MegaMan Legends
by Yar Kramer
Summary: (Chapter 9 up!) Novelization of the game.
1. Apology

**_MEGA MAN LEGENDS_**

Apology 

The reason this bit is called an Apology is because I am apologizing in advance for a number of things. First, for spoiling, well, just about every major scene in the game "Mega Man Legends." That's the point, after all: this is a complete novelization of a video game; what were you expecting? 

Secondly, I'm apologizing for the bits and pieces I changed; those purists who don't like the changes I make, I sympathise completely, but unfortunately, I am _not_ going to write a novel about a fourteen-year-old boy whose given name is actually MegaMan without a good excuse, and "because it's that way in the game" really isn't good enough for me, personally. This is a novelization made by a fan, not the game itself. I'm calling him Rock, which is his name in the Japanese version. You may argue that Rock is just as bad as MegaMan, but I'll just argue that no it isn't. 

Thirdly, I'm aplogizing to anyone who attempts to use this as a guide to the game. You won't be able to (except as far as enemy names are concerned), particularly since several of the techniques our hero uses to defeat his foes would be impossible to use in the actual game. 

I'm also apologizing for the fact that the fight with Bon Bonne seemed a bit quick and deus ex machina-ish. This is mainly because that's what the fight with Bon felt like after my fight with the other robots, but also because I was running out of chapter room and a) it would leave the chapter a bit too short for me to break off there and b) two battles in one chapter would make it WAY to long. 

Lastly, I am apologizing to the original creators at Capcom, in case this isn't at all even remotely what you had in mind. Still, this is a work of fan fiction: authors of such often throw away not only what the original creators had in mind, but also common sense at times, and occasionally sanity itself.


	2. Prologue

Disclaimer: This was implied in the Apology, but it wasn't explicitly stated, so I'm doing it now: All of the characters, situations, dialogue, and just about everything else here belongs to Capcom. I'm just paraphrasing. 

**_MEGA MAN LEGENDS_**

Prologue

The world had been in decline. 

For almost three thousand years now, the oceans had almost completely covered the surface of the world. Only a few islands remained; the remnants of humanity were forced to eke out a meager existence, living however they could. 

But now, civilization was on the rise again. In fact, in many aspects, it was barely distinguishible from that of the twentieth century. Only two forms of technology were bizzarely different: flight, and energy. 

Flight, of course, had always been a dream of humankind. Now, flight was so easy and inexpensive that privately-owned aircraft were almost as common as privately-owned cars; neither was the shape or size of these airships limited by aerodynamics; an aircraft could be a large, fast, red bird; or it could be a small, yellow boat-like aircraft; or it could even be an enormous, bulky, green airship that resembled a fish. 

Energy, on the other hand, had a wholely unrecognizable source. Quantum refractors were now used to power everything from pocket computers to the gigantic engines that drove an airship. They were so common that smaller versions of these refractors, called zeta-energies (or "zennies"), were used as currency. 

Still, the refractors had to come from somewhere. There were plenty to be found in the ancient ruins left by a civilization older than the high waters themselves; but obtaining them was another matter. Ferocious mechanical monsters called Reaverbots prowled the ruins, spelling doom for the unwary adventurer -- or, as someone had once quipped, "They bereave your friends and family." 

This was why the collection of these refractors was left solely to an elite force of people called Diggers. It was they who went through the process of braving the Reaverbots, and even destroying the smaller ones, all for the purpose of providing energy, and life, to the rest of the world. Diggers ranged from ordinary people who hunted in old caves, to brave adventurers who wouldn't hesitate to engage a Reaverbot in hand-to-hand combat if they thought it would mean gaining Refractors or Zennies. Those Diggers who could afford it wore robotic suits of armor, and stood much greater chance against the Reaverbots. 

Unfortunately, not all Diggers were this noble-minded about their work; some of them were in the job entirely for personal profit at all costs. Some of these were frankly piratical in their endeavors. 

But now, rumors began to spread of a hidden treaure called the Mother Lode. Most of them said it was an enormous refractor; all of them said that if one were to find it, humanity need never fear of running out of energy. Now, the focus of Diggers' efforts was more on finding the Mother Lode than on providing general power for humanity. They traveled from one island to another in their airships, ever hoping that they would find what they sought just over the horizon... 

But who could say what truly motivated the Diggers? 

* * * * *

The giant, green, bulky airship looked like a fish. On the front was emblazoned an emblem that looked like a robotic skull. On the side, in black letters, was printed the name, **Gesselschaft**. Inside it was a family of air pirates. 

If it were possible for someone from the twentieth century to be magically transported to see the interior, they would be struck by the decor. It was uniformly green: the walls were green, the floors were gray-green, even the plumbing had a shade remarkably close to that of olives. Except behind the door with the name **Tron** printed on the middle, which had a pink color scheme; or behind the door that said **Teisel** on a brass plaque above it, which was in golden and brown shades; and behind the door with **Bon** scrawled on the front, which -- er, let's just leave it at not being green. 

This theoretical visitor would also be struck by the majority of the crew, which consisted of forty identical small robots: not because of the skill with which they were made, or the fact that they managed to mimic human behavior precisely (true, the behavior exhibited was that of preschoolers, but even so), but because they resembled Lego people more than anything else. They were called Servbots. 

The interloper would be distracted at that point, because an announcement was now being made from the bridge over the ship's PA system. 

It was being made by a tall man in a green suit of Digger armor. His hair was white and spiked in a bizzare manner, and he wore red eyepieces that made him look vaguely robotic. To his left stood his sister, who wore something more conventional: a pink dress, and a small blue jacket. To their right was an enigma: they referred to him as their baby brother, but he appeared to be entirely robotic. 

The man said, "Testing! One-two-three! Testing!" A Servbot gestured to him and he said, "All right, listen up! Drop everything and give me your undivided attention!" 

All over the ship, Servbots stopped what they were doing -- fortunately, it wasn't when they were busy with something delicate and dangerous -- and listened to the announcement. "In about an hour, we will be arriving at our destination, Kattelox Island! Double check your equipment readings and make sure everything's in working order! I want another flawless operation, same as the last one!" The man grinned. "I swear, that treasure will be ours ... or my name's not Teisel Bonne! Let's DO IT!!" 

The Airship _Gesellschaft_ flew on towards its destination. 


	3. Chapter 1: The Ocean Ruins

**_MEGA MAN LEGENDS_**   
Chapter 1   
The Ocean Ruins

_This is just great,_ thought Rock Volnutt. _I'm two minutes into my first Dig alone, and I'm already in trouble!_

He futilely tapped the radio unit in his blue suit of Digger armor, but the only response was continued static. He grimaced, and pondered turning around and going back, but that would mean admitting that he was incapable of handling being a Digger without Barrell hovering over his shoulder. So he continued down the hallway, until he reached a door in one recess. 

The static on his radio abruptly peaked and began to fade away -- and then, to Rock's relief, he heard a familiar female voice. _"-ck! Rock! Can you hear me?"_

"Just barely," he said into the radio. "The transmission isn't too clear." It was getting better, though. 

_"Are you all right?"_ said Roll Casket's voice. _"I got worried when the transmission was cut off."_

"Me too," said Rock, "but I'm okay. Must've been a jamming field.Must've been a jamming field, but I guess it's gone now, and you can get back to Spotting for me." 

_"Yeah,"_ said Roll. _"I couldn't even pinpoint your location, let alone stuff that was around you."_

"Well, we're okay now," said Rock. "I think I'm at the last door." 

He pushed a button on his radio, activating a signal that someone had recorded years ago from a Reaverbot that seemed to open doors in the ruins. 

With the groan of rusty gears, the door raised itself two feet. There was a horrible grinding noise, and then the door fell six inches. 

Rock let out an annoyed breath, grabbed the bottom of the door, and lifted it up. There was a screech of metal on metal, and then it was high enough for him to duck under it. He looked into the room and saw before him a platform with a blue refractor suspended in a force field above a pedestal. 

"Roll!" he said excitedly into the radio. "It's still active! The reactor's still running!" 

_"Great!"_ said Roll. _"What about the refractor?"_

"It's here," said Rock, moving towards the platform. "It's a big one, too!" 

_"All right!"_ said Roll. _"Now maybe we can finally get some money! Be careful!"_

"Hey," said Rock. "It's me." 

He reached out, grabbed the refractor, and pulled. With a slight buzzing noise, it came loose from the force field. 

Rock gave a sigh of relief. And then the pedestal began to lower itself into the floor. 

"Uh-oh," he said. He leaped off the platform, just as three eerie designs jutted out from the back wall. He glanced at the ceiling and saw to his alarm that several walls were closing down on him. And he ran, the walls slamming down behind him. 

He reached the back of the room just in time to see that the security systems had gotten a grip on the door, which was now slowly closing. With the refractor still under his arm, Rock dove under the barrier and rolled to a stop outside ... just as the mechanism lost control of the old door once again and it fell to the ground from the force of gravity. 

_"Rock??"_ said Roll over the radio. _"What happened??"_

"I'm okay!" said Rock. He got to his feet. "Everything's all right here." 

_"Don't count your chickens before they hatch,"_ she replied. _"I'm getting a bunch of Reaverbot signals; they must've been dormant untill you took the refractor. You'd better get out of there. C'mon..."_

"Right!" said Rock, putting the refractor into a satchel slung over his shoulder. "You see anything in my immediate vicinity, let me know!" 

He was only two steps down the next corridor when Roll said, _"Wait a second ... It looks like there's some Reaverbots around there somewhere ... Can you see them?"_

Rock looked down the corridor and saw that on one wall, a panel had opened, revealing what appeared to be a row of hubcaps. 

_"They look pretty small,"_ said Roll. _"You should be able to take 'em down with your Buster."_

"Like I had anything else," muttered Rock, pulling the small, cylindrical device in question out of his satchel and putting it on over his left hand. 

He took a cautious step forward, and one of the "hubcaps" popped out, revealing that it was the top of a small, onion-shaped Reaverbot, which turned to face him. It didn't look very menacing, but many had found out the hard way that appearances could be decieveing. 

_"A Zakobon,"_ said Roll. _"This shouldn't take long."_

"Right," said Rock. He fired the Buster, and small gouts of plasma slammed into the small Reaverbot. It abruptly exploded, scattering bits of metal and Zennies across the floor. Rock moved to pick up the Zennies, but his approach triggered the activation of the rest of the Zakobons. 

"Oops," said Rock, raising his Buster. 

* * * * *

Rock made his way through the ruins, destroying Reaverbots at every turn. They were mostly Zakobons, but he had also fallen into a pit of tubular Mirumijees, and at one point he dueled with a spider-like Cannam that jumped between the floor and ceiling. 

"Looks like we're at the last door," said Rock into his radio. "Just the next room, and then the elevator to the surface." 

_"Great,"_ said Roll, the word accented by a burst of static, _"but I'm showing a large blip in front of you -- it's probably a bigger Reaverbot than the ones you've seen so far. Be careful!"_ There was another burst of static, this time more prolonged. _"Huh? Rock? Can you hear me?"_ Her words became garbled. _"I'm ...ing you...the trans .... 's breaking..."_

"Roll!?" said Rock. "Are you all right?? Can you hear me??" 

This was futile, he knew. It was probably another jamming field. The only question now was whether it would prevent him from getting out of the ruins. 

He went through the door ... and stopped dead in his tracks. In the middle of the room, blocking his way to the exit, was a Hanmuru. Rock had heard about these mechanical monstrosities: they was an enormous, tank-like Reaverbots, with six boxy legs, two enormous metal arms, and a single, glowing red eye. This particular Hanmuru was rather rusty and was missing its left arm. Even so, it looked like it was ready to kill. Rock knew that his only chance lay in either escaping or in destroying it. Neither seemed particularly easy, but he was understandably desperate. 

It swung its one good arm at him, and he only barely managed to duck to the side to avoid getting smashed. He fired his Buster at it, but the blasts only bounced off. It charged towards him and he jumped out of its way just in time. 

As Rock continued to shoot at it, he began to worry. This thing wasn't letting up, and at this rate, it was only a matter of time before he got tired and it moved in for the kill. The only effect his shots seemed to be having was to chip the paint and rust from its armor. 

The Hanmuru apparently forgot for a moment that it was missing an arm, so it drove at him at its left, brandishing the metal scab at him. Rock fired at that, and it quickly turned away, but not before Rock saw the dents he had made in it. 

And there, he realized, was its weakness: the armor where its arm had been wasn't really protective, so he only needed to get rid of that and, assuming it didn't destroy him, he would have it at his mercy. 

Rock did something that confused the Hanmuru for a moment because it had never seen anyone do it: he ran _towards_ it instead of _away_ from it. Before it got a grip on itself, he jumped onto its side, tore off the metal scab, and proceeded to fire his Buster into the opening this revealed. 

The Hanmuru, needless to say, was not amused. It tried to smash Rock with its arm, but he jumped away at the last moment. It turned to face him, its eye glowing red ... and then, smoke belching from the insides, it slumped over and did not move again. 

Rock grinned and ran into the elevator. 

* * * * *

The ruins jutted out of the water like a giant finger. A landing pad with an elevator station was on the top, and out of the elevator stepped Rock. 

He decided he'd never been more glad to see the sky. Of course, this was understandable: he'd nearly been killed in the ruins, so a little relief was called for. This preoccupation, however, distracted him from the sound of the elevator descending back into the ruins. 

After a moment, though, he noticed that he was alone. "I wonder where Roll went," he muttered. 

Behind him, he heard the elevator ascend and the doors open. A pained expression crossed his face as he turned and say, lo and behold, that the Hanmuru had come out to play. And this time, it wouldn't relent. 

Rock backed away nervously. "Back for more??" he said. His foot touched empty air, and he hurriedly stepped forward to avoid falling off the edge of the tower, down into the sea below ... 

The Hanmuru was suddenly confused again, because Rock turned to face it, said "See ya!", and jumped off the edge. Its confusion didn't last long, however, because it then saw him riding up ... on top of an aircraft. It was small, yellow, and had the name **Flutter** painted on one side. 

_"Hold on!"_ said Roll. _"We're taking off!"_

"Roger!" said Rock, and then the Airship _Flutter_ flew off, leaving the Hanmuru fuming on top of the ruins. 

* * * * *

"Nice timing, Roll," said Rock as he climbed down the ladder to the bridge of the _Flutter_. 

Roll looked up from the controls. "Any time," she replied. "I'm sorry, Rock, I had some engine problems, and..." 

"It's okay, Roll," said Rock. "But I'm glad you showed up when you did." 

"All's well that ends well, right?" said Roll. "And we were able to get a refractor; we should be able to get by with that for a while." She sighed. "If only the Mother Lode were as easy to find as this..." 

"Don't worry," said Rock. "We'll find it someday, and your parents too." 

"Thanks," said Roll. "I know we will. It's just that ..." 

They were interrupted by a yell over the intercom: Roll's grandfather, Barrell, who was in the engine room. _"Ack! Roll, the engine's overheating! The steam's so thick I can barely see!"_

"What!?" said Roll. "I guess the _Flutter_'s in worse shape than I thought!" 

_"Roll, the #5 meter is going crazy!"_ said Barrell. _"We can't take much more of this!"_

Rock stood back. He wasn't a very good mechanic, and Roll and Barrell were better suited to the task of keeping the _Flutter_ in the air. Assuming, of course, that they could. 

"Gramps, can you open up the #11 value again?" said Roll. 

_"Got it! -- ouch!"_

"We'd better find a place to set down," said Roll. "Rock, could you check the map?" 

"Got it," said Rock. "There's an island called Kattelox about a hundred miles thataway." 

_"I can't do much more down here by myself down here!"_ said Barrell. _"Can somebody give me a hand?"_

"Sorry, Gramps," said Roll. "My hands are a little full right now." 

The _Flutter_ continued to fly for several tense moments. Then, Rock saw the island up ahead. "Roll, I see it!" he said. "Land ho!" 

"Hold on!" said Roll, guiding the _Flutter_ towards the island. "Hold together ... Just a little bit more ..." 

They were close enough now that Rock could clearly see that there was a town in the middle of the island. 

"Hold on!" said Roll. "I'm taking her down in the middle of that field over there!" 

Rock braced himself ... and with a resounding crash, the _Flutter_ landed. Rock found himself sprawled on the floor in the front of the cockpit. 

For a moment, there was silence. Then, the intercom crackled to life. _"Looks like...Looks like we made it!"_ said Barrell. 


	4. Chapter 2: Kattelox Island

**_MEGA MAN LEGENDS_**   
Chapter 2   
Kattelox Island

Rock, Barrell, and Roll stood outside the _Flutter_, surveying the damage. 

"This," said Barrel, "is a mess. I don't think it'll be safe to set foot here for quite a while." 

"We've been pushing her so hard ... haven't been taking good enough care of her..." muttered Roll. She looked up. "We'll just have to fix her up!" 

"I saw a town to the north before we landed," said Rock. "I think I'll have a look around." 

"You go ahead," said Roll. "I hope we'll be able to find some parts to fix her here..." 

Rock turned to leave, but he was stopped by a short, robotic monkey. "Yo, MegaMan!" said the monkey, using a nicname he refused to explain. "You want me to tag along?" 

"Um, no thanks, Data," said Rock. "You stay here." 

"I'll never figure out how he understands that monkey," muttered Barrell. "Sounds like just gibberish to me." 

If Data understood the old man, he didn't show it. "Okay, boyo," he said. "Anything for someone who's been a friend for years!" 

Rock headed north towards the city, but he was barely halfway there before he heard sirens. A police car abruptly drove by, heading towards the _Flutter._ Rock considered his various options, and decided that the best one would be to return in case something was up. 

He arrived back at the scene of the crash and saw that a police officer and an inspector were standing and talking to Barrell. 

"Hey, Rock!" Barrell, waving. "The police saw us crash-land and came to check up on us!" 

"Well, you certainly put on quite a show," said the inspector, "but it looks like everyone's all right. Let me welcome you to Kattelox Island! Now, I'd like to ask one of you to come with me to the station." 

"We need you to fill out some immigration forms so you can get your registration and ID card," said the officer. "You can't enter the city without one." 

"Will that take long?" asked Barrell. 

"Don't worry--of course not," said the inspector. "While you're waiting, you can spend your time in the shopping arcade next to the city--you don't need an ID card to get in there." 

"Well, then let's go," said Barrell. 

The three of them left in the police car. Roll, Rock, and Data watched them go. 

"I'll take a look at the _Flutter_ while we wait for Gramps to get back," said Roll. 

"Go ahead," said Rock. "Though I don't want to just sit here doing nothing..." 

"Maybe you could find some parts for the _Flutter_ at that shopping area the Inspector mentioned," suggested Roll. 

"I'll do that," said Rock. 

This time, there were no interruptions as he made the short walk towards the city. However, he saw a broken-down car and what he recognized as the entrance to some ancient ruins. There was also an odd-looking airship just outside the city walls. It was bulky, reddish-grey, and had a bizzare emblem that looked something like a robotic skull on the front ... 

Someone tapped Rock on the shoulder. He turned and saw another police officer. 

"Excuse me," said the officer. "Is this your ship? It shouldn't be here--this is a no-parking zone!" 

"Uh, no, it's not mine," said Rock. 

"Hmm," said the officer. "I wonder whose it is ... How long are they going to leave this thing sitting here?" 

Rock didn't have an answer, so he simply shrugged and entered the shopping arcade. 

* * * * *

Neither Rock nor the police officer had noticed the two small robots behind the airship. They were short, squat, and resembled Lego people more than anything else. Nervous ones at that, if their facial expressions were any evidence. 

"If we don't leave soon, we're gonna get a parking ticket!" muttered one of the Servbots. 

"We hafta wait for Miss Tron," said the other. "She told us to wait for her, and that's what we're gonna do!" 

The first Servbot whimpered. "The police'll see us!" 

The second one decided not to argue, but merely said, "I wonder what's keeping Miss Tron?" 

* * * * *

A banner hanging from the ceiling proclamed, **Apple Market**; Rock assumed that was its name. He looked around, and saw that everyone seemed to be staring at him. He understood this: the town seemed to be small enough that just about everyone knew everyone else, and Rock Volnutt was a stranger -- something decidedly uncommon, though not exactly unheard of. 

Before he took too steps, however, a small dog ran over to him and started barking excitedly. It seemed to be doing its best to look threatening, though it failed completely. 

"Uh ... good boy ..." said Rock. He wasn't sure how to deal with it, but then a girl in a blue dress walked over. 

"Down, Paprika!" she said. With the dog subdued, she turned to Rock. "Uh, hi. You were from that airship that crashed, weren't you?" 

"Yeah," said Rock. Evidently, news traveled fast around here. "My name's Rock." 

"My name's Maria," said the girl. "This is my dog, Paprika. He's cute, isn't he?" 

"You bet," said Rock, smiling. "Say, is there anywhere I can get parts for the airship?" 

Maria pointed towards a store at the north end of the shopping arcade. "Try the Junk Store," she said. 

Rock thanked her and headed north, but he was stopped by three unpleasant-looking boys. "Hold it," said the largest of them. 

"Who are you?" said Rock. 

"I'm Jim," said the one who had spoken. "This is Osh" -- He indicated the middle-sized boy with the kerchief on his head -- "and this is Bensley." He gestured towards the shortest. "You're on the island to look for the treasure, aren't you?" 

Rock regarded the three of them. It was clear that Osh and Jim at least could bully their entire school if they wanted, but he doubted that they had ever gone one-on-one against a Digger in a full suit of armor. To be honest, he wasn't sure they wanted to find out what it was like. "I'm just trying to get parts for my airship so I can leave," he said. 

"Can't fool us," said Jim. "I know you're lookin' for the treasure, just like that girl that was here a minute ago." 

Rock decided to play along. "What if I do?" he said. "I don't suppose _you'd_ know about it?" 

"No!" snapped Jim. "I don't know nothin' about it! Even if I did, I wouldn't tell a stanger like you!" 

By this time, Osh and Bensley had gained enough courage to speak up. "Yeah!" said Osh. "Strangers aren't wanted here! Go away!" 

"There've been a lot of strangers coming here lately," muttered Bensley. "Makes me nervous--I don't like strangers!" 

"Well, then, I'd better leave," said Rock. He pushed past them and entered the junk shop. 

* * * * *

"Oh, hello," said the woman behind the counter. 

"Uh, hi," said Rock. "I'm from the, uh, crashed airship ... Do you have any parts we can use?" 

The woman considered this. "I'm sorry," she said, "but my husband's gone out on a Dig in the ruins just outside of town. Well, not really to _dig_, but, you know, just search." 

"Yeah," said Rock. "Any good refractors?" 

"Actually, out here you're more likely to find machine parts," she said. "Maybe when he gets back he'll have something." 

"I hope so," said Rock. 

There was a pause. 

"I wonder what's taking him so long," said the woman. "He said he'd be back half an hour ago ..." 

"Maybe he lost track of time," said Rock. "Mind if I go look for him?" 

The woman brightened. "You will?" she said. "Oh, thank you so much! You'll probably find him somewhere near the entrance--he's really just a big coward, you see, so I don't think he's gone too far in..." 

"I'll go see what I can do," said Rock, and left. 

* * * * *

Barely ten seconds after he'd climbed down the ladder into the cave, Rock thought he heard a voice. "Help! Somebody!" said the voice. 

Rock muttered, "Uh-oh," and drew his Buster. 

He started down the tunnel and was warmly greeted by a Zakobon, but it was caught off-guard, and he dispatched it with his Buster without any trouble. 

He continued through the caves, hearing the man calling at more or less every turn, and then came to a slightly wider cavern, swarming with Mirumijees. There was a ledge in the opposite end of the room, and frantically trying to climb up it -- despite a cumbersome bag slung over one shoulder -- was the owner of the voice, which was now saying, "Hurry! Get those snake things!" 

Rock looked at the situation: there were seven Mirumijees. He fired his Buster seven times, and smoking Mirumijee bits clattered to the floor. 

"Wow," said the man. "You're good!" 

"Thanks," said Rock. 

"Hey, what are _you_ thanking _me_ for?!" said the man. "You saved my life! Thanks!" 

"Any time," said Rock. "You're the guy who runs the junk store, right?" 

"Uh, yeah," said the man. He climbed off the ledge. "My name's Dan. Come by my shop later. I may have some kind of reward." 

* * * * *

"Rock," said Roll, as the former climbed out of the ruins a moment after the junk store owner. 

"Uh, yeah?" said Rock. 

"You could've told me," she said, gesturing at the cave. 

"Oh," said Rock, feeling his face warm. "Sorry." 

"That's okay," said Roll. "But would you look at this car!" 

Rock looked at it. It was red and yellow, covered in rust, and appeared to be broken down. He decided it would be tactful not to say anything at all. But Roll always liked working with machines. 

"It looks like it was an old Spotter's car," said Roll. 

"You think you'd want to use it if you could?" said Rock. 

"Maybe if we fixed it up ..." said Roll, who apparently hadn't noticed he'd meant it as a joke. 

Rock shrugged, and headed back towards the town. 

* * * * *

"Oh, you came back!" said Dan when Rock arrived at the junk shop. 

"Thank you so much!" said his wife. "I don't know what would have happened if you hadn't gone looking for him!" 

Dan laughed out loud. "Thanks again for helping me out back there," he said. "Here--take this as a reward!" He handed Rock a box that said **Mine Parts Kit**. 

"I bet this'll help with Reaverbots," said Rock. "Thanks." 

"Are you sure that's enough?" said Dan's wife. 

"Of course not! You deserve more!" said Dan, turning back to Rock. "You can have that Spotter's car that's outside the ruins. It has some equipment that will get those mines to work." 

Rock smiled. "Roll will love it," he said. "But what I really need is parts for the _Flutter_." 

"Oh," said Dan. "Well, I'm sorry, but I don't have anything like that here. I can probably get you some of it soon, though. I've also got weapons and upgrades and other stuff I can sell you. Come back again and take a look." 

"I will," said Rock. 

"Ummm..." Dan floundered for a moment. "What did you say your name was?" 

"Rock," he said. "Rock Volnutt." 

"Well, Rock," said Dan, "I guess I'll see you later then." 

* * * * *

Roll was still puttering around the Spotter's car, but with much less distraction. "Hey, Rock," she said as he approached. "Were you able to find something?" 

"'Fraid not," said Rock. "But the junk store owner says he'll be able to get some parts later. Or we could dig for them ourselves." 

"Oh," said Roll. "That might take a while ..." 

"Yeah, well, you win some, you lose some," said Data, hopping into view next to Roll. 

Rock snorted. "Data, where'd you learn tact?" he said. "Oh, by the way ..." He showed Roll the mine parts kit. 

She looked through the box. "That looks like a weapons upgrade module," she said. 

"The junk store man gave it to me," said Rock. "He said we could use this car to hook it up." 

"You mean we can use this car!?" said Roll, her excitement returning. "Well, c'mon, then, let's get it attached right away!" 


	5. Chapter 3: Invasion of the Pirates

**_MEGA MAN LEGENDS_**   
Chapter 3   
Invasion of the Pirates

The interior of the car understandably looked disused, but the refractor appeared to be still in good condition, because the lights worked. 

"Kinda Spartan, ain't it?" said Data, pawing at a set of bunk beds on one wall. 

"I'll get to work on fixing this car up," said Roll. 

"What about the mine parts kit?" said Rock. 

"Oh, right," she said, taking the box. "Just gimme a second ... Hmm, there's the equipment ..." 

Roll soon got it to work, and eventually she stood up with what appeared to Rock to be a blue baldric with small disks in its pockets. "There," she said. "It's ready. I call them 'splash mines.' Just drop them in front of an enemy, and -- BOOM! Instant crunchy fried Reaverbot." 

Rock chuckled. "You sure know how to work with machines." 

Roll beamed. "Yeah, I know," she said. "Just remember -- there's a limited number of mines, so make sure you use them sparingly." 

"I will," said Rock. 

"Good," said Roll. "I'll get to work on fixing this car up. I'll be able to help you out, and maybe spot for you, if I can get it running again." 

"Thanks," said Rock. 

* * * * *

As the two of them stepped out of the car, the police officer who had been at the crash site approached. "Ah, there you are," he said. "I've been looking for you so I could give you this -- your citizen's card." 

Rock took it. "Thanks," he said. 

"You're welcome," said the officer. "Now you'll be able to use the city gates." He looked uncomfortable for a moment. "Of course, there are some gates that can't be opened, but ..." 

"Why's that?" asked Rock. 

"Pirates," was the reply. "We've received information that indicates there are some headed this way, so as a precaution, we're evacuating the civilians and locking the gates." 

"Pirates!?" exclaimed Roll. "Um ... our grandfather is still inside the city ... Will he be all right?" 

The officer looked even more uncomfortable and was obviously trying not to show it. "Well, I'm sure he's heard the announcements about the pirates ... If I see him, I'll make sure he gets to a safe place ... If you'll excuse me ..." He hurried off. 

Roll and Rock exchanged a glance. "I'm worried," said Roll. "I hope Gramps is okay." 

"Me too," said Rock. "I'll go look for him -- you wait here." 

"Okay, Rock," said Roll. "You be careful." 

"I will!" said Roll. 

* * * * *

Jim, Osh, and Bensley were standing near the north end of Apple Market. "I'm tellin' ya," said Jim. "That girl looks suspicious, all right!" 

Bensley nodded vigorously. "She hasta be a pirate -- she said she was looking for treasure!" 

"Hey, lotsa people do," said Jim. "But I bet that's it. She's a pirate, or my name ain't Jim Hannigan." 

"No one's gonna believe us," said Osh. "You think we oughta tell someone or are we gonna get her ourselves?" 

"Company!" said Bensley. 

The trio turned and saw Rock walking towards him. Osh cursed. "It's that blue guy again!" 

"C'mon, let's go!" said Jim. They ran off in different directions, and Rock passed them by with barely a glance. 

* * * * *

Rock entered the downtown area of Kattelox Town. The first thing that caught his attention was a young woman wearing a pink dress, a dark blue jacket, and an odd-looking hairstyle. She was talking to three small robots, her tone of voice that of a mother talking to her children ... 

"OK, got it?" she said. "Once the decision's made, there's no turning back! All three of you know the plan?" 

"Right!" said the robots. "We understand!" 

The one on the left added, "We'll do our best, Miss Tron! You can count on us as your first three Servbots to get the key to the treasure!" 

"Good!" said the girl. "Now, go on, you guys!" 

The three robots ran off, and then the girl suddenly noticed Rock. She looked startled for a moment, and then snapped, "What're YOU staring at??" Before he could respond, she stomped off in a huff. 

Rock shrugged and started to cross the street. He hadn't seen the car coming, and only by throwing himself forward at the last moment did he avoid getting hit. 

"Hey!" said a man who had been standing nearby. "Are you all right?" 

"I think so," said Rock, getting to his feet. "Yeah, I'm okay." 

"Good," said the man. "I know everyone's afraid and wants to get away, but they should be more careful when they drive. You better watch out, too, and make sure you don't get run over." 

"I will," said Rock. "Say ... Do you know how to get to the city hall?" 

The man pointed. "Northern area," he said. "Right through the door in the north wall of downtown. You can't miss it." 

Rock thanked him and started off. This time, he was careful to look both ways before crossing the street. 

* * * * *

As he entered the north area, he saw the girl in the pink dress again. "You again??" she said. "You've been following me around all day, haven't you!?" 

"Um, no, I haven't," said Rock. 

The girl snorted. "Sorry, but I don't have time to play with you," she growled. "Just stay out of my way, okay?" 

Rock considered this. "Uh, okay," he said, and decided his best course of action would be to simply walk away. 

He neared city hall, and saw that it was guarded by two police officers. "Excuse me," he said. "I'm looking for Professor Barrell Caskett ..." 

"Professor Barrell?" said the officer. "Yes, he's here. He's in a meeting with the mayor -- please wait one minute." 

Rock didn't have long to wait; the officer came back very quickly. "Thank you for waiting," he said. "Go on in ..." 

* * * * *

Paprika, in addition to being cute, was also a rather intelligent dog. Not only could he perform various tricks on command, he could tell the difference between a Good Person and a Bad Person. Jim was Not Very Nice, but Paprika knew him and his cronies well enough to know when to trust them and when not to. 

At the moment, Jim was telling Paprika something. Paprika didn't understand many words, but he knew the phrase "go find" and knew that "pirate" meant a Bad Person. So apparently, Jim wanted him to find a Bad Person. Paprika decided that this was one of the times when he _could_ trust Jim, so he decided to go find this "pirate." 

It took a while, but Paprika eventually made his way to the northern area. 

* * * * *

Rock entered the mayor's office, and saw Barrell chatting with the mayor. It didn't seem as formal as he had expected. 

"Hey, Rock!" exclaimed Barrell. "Come to check up on me, eh? Here, let me introduce you to Amelia Halvorsen -- the mayor of the island!" 

Amelia was a pleasant woman who appeared to be in her mid-thirties. "Nice to meet you," she said. "I'm an old I'm an old friend of Professor Barrell's -- I worked as his assistant for a while while I was in school." 

Barrell cackled. "It's a small world, isn't it?" he said. "I didn't expect to see you again when you went into politics ..." 

Amelia smiled, then switched to a more serious expression. "To tell you the truth, we've gotten reports that some pirates are headed this way," she said. "I was asking the Professor if he might have any idea what they're after, but I'll bet anything they're after the legendary treasure supposedly buried on this island." 

"You know," said Rock, "that's the third time I've heard someone mention treasure on the island." 

"There are a lot of stories about the treasure, but no one knows exactly what it is," said Amelia. "I thought maybe you might know something about it, Professor." 

Barrell scratched his chin. "I've been in the digging business a long time, but I haven't been able to find out anything about this island's treausre except legends and myths," he said. 

"Yes, but they do have one common thread, don't they?" said Amelia. "The legend says if the seals are broken, a terrible disaster will occur. Even if it's only a legend, as mayor of this island I can't ignore anything that might threaten it." 

Barrell shrugged and said, "Look, Rock, I'll be here for a while talking with Amelia, so why don't you go back and keep an eye on Roll -- tell her not to worry about me, okay?" 

"Okay," said Rock. "See you later." 

* * * * *

Rock heard a yell as he left the building: it was the voice of the girl in pink. 

"Help!" she screamed. "It's a dog!" 

Rock wondered what that was all about, so he decided to go over and investigate. He then saw her being chased by Paprika, who was very enthusiastically barking. 

"What ... What did I ever do to you??" she gasped, rushing towards the door leading to the downtown area. She made it and rushed through, but Paprika also managed to slip by. 

Rock scratched his head. He knew that some people were afraid of dogs, but this seemed to be overdoing it. He was going in that direction anyway, so he followed them to the downtown area. 

He then stifled a chuckle at the sight of the girl, halfway up a lamppost, Paprika barking at her from below. 

"What're YOU staring at??" she yelled, trying pathetically to sound aggressive. "I'm not a circus clown or something! Go on! Get out of here!" 

Rock ignored this barrage of misguided insults and squatted down next to the growling Paprika. "Hey," he said. "Cut it out. Don't you know you can't treat girls that way?" 

Paprika barked at him; didn't this boy know this was a Bad Person he was dealing with? 

Rock jumped slightly, startled. "Hey! Hold on!" he said. "Down, boy! Down!" 

Paprika arrived at the conclusion that this boy was a Good Person who probably couldn't tell the difference between someone who was Good or Bad, and trotted away in a huff. 

"Are you all right?" Rock said to the girl. 

She slid down the pole, a look of confusion on her face. She stood up and looked like she was about to say something, but then glared at him. "You...you just mind your own business!" she snapped, and ran away. 

Rock sighed. Some people were just like that ... 

* * * * *

Meanwhile, Osh, Bensley, and Jim were talking to a police officer. "She's come here to check things out, I'm sure of it!" Osh was saying. 

"You don't believe us, do you??" said Bensley. 

"That girl was a pirate?" said the officer. "Right. Didn't your mothers ever tell you not to lie?" 

"But it's true!" said Jim. "My dog Paprika found her--" 

"I _knew_ he wouldn't believe us," muttered Osh. 

"Right," said the officer. "In any event, I assume you knew that all civilians are supposed to evacuate this area because of the threat of _real_ pirates. Now, come on, let's go." 

They turned to leave, and then several boxy airships, much like the one that had been parked outside the city, flew overhead. 

* * * * *

"So where's Gramps?" said Roll, back near the spotter's car. 

"He's talking with the mayor," said Rock. "He knew her a while back..." 

"I guess he'll be okay then," said Roll. "By the way, did you see those wierd-looking ships that just flew past here?" 

"Yeah," said Rock. "I've never seen ones like that before ... I wonder whose they are?" 

Data chomped on some potato chips. "If that emblem on the front wasn't a 'dead' giveaway, I suppose there's no use tryin' to tell ya." 

"What'd he say?" said Roll. Rock translated. 

"Data," said Rock, "do you know something we don't?" 

"Yeah," Data replied mischeviously. "The blindingly obvious. They're _pirates_, MegaMan!!" 

"Pirates!?" exclaimed Rock. 

Suddenly, they heard several explosions coming from the direction of the city. 

"Oh no!" exclaimed Roll. "They're attacking the city! Gramps is still in there! I gotta make sure he's all right!" She dashed towards the city. 

"Tactically brilliant, ain't she?" said Data, emptying the chips into his mouth. 

"Roll!" yelled Rock, running after her. 

"Oh, well," muttered Data to himself. "Looks like behaving with some _sense_ is up to me." 


	6. Chapter 4: The Blumebear Battle

**_MEGA MAN LEGENDS_**   
Chapter 4   
The Blumebear Battle

"Gramps!" yelled Roll, rushing down Apple Market. 

"Roll!" yelled Rock, dashing after her. 

They arrived in the downtown area almost at the same time, but were blocked by two police officers. "Hey!" one of them said. "You can't go through! This area's closed off and everyone has evacuated to the Yass Plains!" 

"Please, officer, let us through!" said Roll. "My grandfather's in there, and--" 

"Yeah, well, so's the mayor," said the officer. "We're not letting either of you through!" 

"What's happening?" said Rock. 

"What!? Have you been paying _any_ attention to the news!?" said the officer. "Those pirates have attacked the island, just like our information said." 

"They're after the treasure that's supposed to be buried here and they've occupied the northern area," said the other officer. "They're too heavily-armed -- even _we_ can't get near them!" 

"Maybe I can do something..." said Rock. 

"Then I'm going with you!" said Roll. 

"No, it's too dangerous," said Rock. "Let me handle this." 

For a second, Roll looked about to argue the point, but then said, "All right. You look for gramps, okay?" 

"Right!" said Rock, and jogged off. 

"Wait!! Are you crazy!?" yelled the first officer. 

"What can a single boy possibly do?" muttered the second one. 

Rock, however, was now out of their earshot and approaching the north gate. Three large robotic tanks stood there -- one yellow, one red, and one blue -- and two of the boxy aircraft hovered above them. At first the mechs looked identical, except for the color, but as he got nearer, Rock noticed that the yellow one was bulkier, the blue one had treads of a slightly different design -- 

-- and as the three mechs swiveled around to point their weaponry directly at his face, he saw that the machine guns on the red one were slightly larger. 

The hatch popped open on top of the yellow one, and one a Servbot poked its head out. "We are Servbots of the Bonne Family Pirates!" it said. "You better watch out for us!" 

The blue one opened up and another Servbot looked out. "We're not gonna let you through! So there!" 

And finally, the red one revealed a Servbot. "We'll be in big trouble if we let anyone get the key," it said. "Miss Tron'll punish us. So this is just doing what we're told, 'kay?" 

All three of them fired their weaponry at once. Rock barely managed to dodge to the side and got off a few shots from his Buster without getting perforated. 

"Ouch! Damage report!" yelped one of the Servbots from inside its mech. "I _knew_ we should've invested in plasma shielding!" 

"Let's split up and get out of here!" said another one. 

"You'll never get the key from us!" yelled a third. "Not as long as we're riding the Blumebears!" 

The hatch on the red and blue ones opened -- Rock saw something tossed from the red one to the blue one -- and then the three Blumebear mechs ran off in different directions. Rock guessed that the blue one, which appeared to be the fastest, now had the key, so he chased after it. It shortly went around a corner and disappeared from sight. 

Rock pulled a splash mine out of the baldric and ran down an alleyway to another street. Sure enough, there was the blue Blumebear, coming towards him. He dropped the splash mine and started to fire his Buster at the mech, racing in the opposite direction. It fired its machine guns at him, and he ran in a zig zag pattern; these Servbots seemed awful at hitting moving targets. 

Then the mech ran over the splash mine, which exploded noisily. Smoke started coming from the wheels. Rock raised his Buster to fire ... and got knocked over by fire from behind. 

Rock quickly got to his feet and dodged to the side; the red Blumebear had snuck up behind him while he was distracted by the blue one. He grimaced at the thought of what his armor probably looked like now, and decided that if he was going to live through this he'd have to keep track of all three if he could. 

* * * * *

_"Ha! Got him!"_ exclaimed a high-pitched voice over Servbot #26's radio. 

_"No, he's still running, 34,"_ said a slightly different one. _"Shucks, he put a dent in my armor."_

_"You think you can keep going, 12?"_ said #34's voice. 

_"Yeah, but you'd better take the key for now,"_ replied #12. 

"Okay, where are you two?" said #26. He was piloting the yellow Blumebear, and had lost track of the other two. 

_"We're on main street,"_ said #34. _"The blue boy just ducked in between an alley..."_

_"Looks like a job for us on the Draches,"_ cut in a fourth voice -- that of Servbot #7, #26 recalled. 

_"Okay, go ahead,"_ said #12. _"But don't bite off more than you can chew."_

_"Roger!"_ said #7. _"C'mon, 40, let's shoot this guy up a bit!"_

_"Yee-haw!"_ squealed #40 over the sound of gunfire. _"We won't stop 'till there's a red stain where he used to be!"_

#26 grimaced; Servbot #40 had a sick mind. 

_"Uh, cut the chatter, #40,"_ said #12. _"You don't need to spout your personal, uh, battle philosophy at us."_

_"Aw, gimme a break!"_ snapped #40. _"This kid's gonna be an easy ... whoa! I'm hit!"_

_"Let me take over,"_ said #7. _"Just a little strafing across his backside and a surgically precise -- g'oh! Hey, he's giving me a hard -- WHOA!!"_ There was an abrupt crunch, a burst of static, and then silence. 

_"Number Seven!"_ barked #12. _"What's happened!?"_

_"He went down,"_ said #40 coldly. _"He looks okay, but Drache R-15 ain't gonna fly no more! I'm gonna get 'im for that!"_

_"#26, go assist #7,"_ ordered #12. _"#34, let's double-team 'im."_

_"Roger!"_ said #34. _"I have him in visual range now."_

"Go get 'im, boys!" said #26. He brought his Blumebear into gear, and shortly thereafter he found #7 wandering around, looking alarmed. 

He opened the hatch and leaned out. "Get on board, 7!" he called. 

"Okay, here I am!" said #7. He dashed over and climbed onto the mech. "Man, that was tough." 

"Tell me about it," said #26. "Remind me to tell you about the time Miss Tron brought me on the trip to find Diana's Tear ..." 

_"Gah!"_ exclaimed #12. _"I'm getting a malfunction in my #2 generator --"_ There was a burst of static, and at the same time, #26 heard an explosion. 

_"Oh no!"_ said #34. _"The blue boy blew up the blue Blumebear!"_

_"He's mine!"_ screamed #40. 

* * * * *

Rock raced to avoid the machinegun fire from the aircraft. No point in sticking around; the blue mech obviously didn't have the key. Of course, there _was_ the possibility that the key had been destroyed, but Rock was too busy dealing with the attack from above. 

A few more hits and it crashlanded nearby. Rock examined the wreckage of the blue Blumebear again, and decided that its pilot must have passed the key to the red one while he wasn't looking. 

He raced down the street and saw the remaining two mechs. The yellow one charged towards him, whilst the red one ran off around a corner. Rock smirked; it was a tactically obvious plan: have one of them distract you while the other either ran off with your prize or snuck around to attack you from behind. Either way, he knew, he wanted to get rid of the red one. 

So instead of trying to counter a heavily-armored monstrosity like the yellow Blumebear, he went down another alley so he could deal with ... uh ... a slightly less-heavily-armored and better-armed monstrosity. Oh, well, you couldn't have everything. 

He took out three splash mines and set them down. Then he raced into the view of the red Blumebear, waving and jumping. "Hey! Over here!" he called. 

The hatch opened and the Servbot inside leaned out. "You don't honestly think we're _that_ stupid, do you?" it said, and lobbed a bomb at him. 

"Hey, it was worth a shot," said Rock, jumping out of the way of the bomb. 

The red mech fired several shots from its main gun, charging towards him. Rock raced away, but got hit in the back. He stumbled forward -- saw that he had just avoided landing _right_ on top of another trio of splash mines he'd set earlier -- kept going as the mech bore down on him -- 

-- and with a stunning display of pyrotechnics, the red Blumebear mech ran over the splash mines, fell over, and exploded. 

Rock got up and saw that the red Blumebear didn't have the key either. Now all he had to destroy left was the yellow one. 

It was easy to find, and even easier to catch up with. The yellow mech's sole advantage seemed to be its armor; it had neither superior speed nor superior weaponry. Of course, its guns could still do a considerable amount of harm, and he needed to be careful of them. 

The Servbot piloting it obviously saw him coming, but for some reason it allowed him to get right up next to it. Its guns couldn't even aim at him now. Still, its armor was behaving stubbornly impenetrable. 

There was only one thing to do; Rock took out five splash mines, jammed them into the wheel mechanisms, and raced away. The Blumebear got three-eighths of an inch before it exploded. 

And in the middle of the wreckage was a single yellow key. 

* * * * *

Less than twenty-five feet away on the other side of the wall was a much larger red robot. It somehow gave the impression of an octopus, despite having only four legs. The name **Feldynaught** was written in large letters on the back. Three somewhat scorched Servbots ran towards it. 

_"Miss Tronnn ...."_

Tron Bonne swiveled the cockpit from looking at City Hall to the approaching Servbots, which she now saw on the robot's viewscreen. 

_"We're so sorry!"_ whimpered one of them. 

"Oh, what is it this time!?" snarled Tron. 

_"We lost the key,"_ said a Servbot timidly. 

"WHAT!?" she yelled. The mission was already going downhill. "How did this happen!?" 

_"A blue boy attacked!"_ A slightly distorted image file of a boy in blue armor appeared on one monitor. _"And then he took the key from us!"_

Tron gave an exasperated sigh. "I can't take my eyes off you for a second, can I!? Just you wait till we get back -- you're in a lot of trouble!" 

_"Oh no!"_ said all three, spinning around in consternation. 

Tron irritably flipped a switch, changing the main screen from the view the mech had to the image of the "blue boy" and considered things. 

For one thing, who was _that_?? And how had he destroyed the Blumebear mechs?? Then Tron realized that she'd seen him before. He was the boy who she'd seen when he'd entered the downtown area and who had rescued -- er, the dog -- uh, right. Tron felt a strange tingling sensation she hadn't felt before until she first saw him ... 

"What _is_ that feeling?" she muttered, trying to pinpoint it. She gave up. "Oh, who cares what this feeling is??" she shouted at no one in particular. "It's all his fault! I'll teach him not to mess with me -- or my kids!" She flipped a switch on the control board. "Here we go! Feldynaught, engage!" The mech rocketed straight up over the wall. 

Rock only had enough time to see the Feldynaught blocking the sun before it nearly flattened him. Fortunately, he jumped away in time. The hatch popped open and Tron climbed out. "Hey you! Thanks to you, everything's a mess now, isn't it??" 

"Huh?" said Rock. "Aren't you the girl who was being chased by that dog?" 

The girl didn't seem to appreciate this. "Shut up! I don't wanna hear about that! I have a name, you know!" she said. "I am Tron Bonne!" 

"So you're one of the pirates!" said Rock, getting his Buster ready. 

"Oh, so you can figure things out, like dropped names," said Tron. "Do you know what you've done!?" 

"Huh?" 

Tron blinked, and then smirked. "You're a lot dumber than you look," she chuckled. "Of course, that shoulda been self-evident from the fact you're picking a fight with the Bonnes." She put on what was just about her least-sweet smile that wasn't actually wicked. "Of course, if you agree to become one of my servants, I suppose I could forgive you! Whaddaya say? That way, my brother will never have to know about what you did to us." 

"Join up with pirates??" said Rock. "I don't think so! Forget it!" 

"All right, then! Forget you! Fine!" yelled Tron. "See if I care! I gave you a chance and you turned it down! Don't come back crying to me later!" 

There was a slightly tense pause. 

"Arrghh!! You're history!" yelled Tron, jumping back into the mech. And then she jumped back out again for a second and blew a raspberry at him. 

Rock could not _believe_ this kid. First she was mad at him for defeating the mechs, then she seemed to be about to forgive him, and now she apparently wanted to kill him from inside a fifteen-foot robot mech. 


	7. Chapter 5: Fight for City Hall!

**_MEGA MAN LEGENDS_**   
Chapter 4   
Fight for City Hall!

Data approached the north end of the downtown area with a box. As he drew neared, he heard several explosions. "Wonder what Blue Boy's doin' now?" he chattered to himself. 

A building exploded fifteen feet away from him. The explosion had been caused by the Feldynaught landing on it. 

"Ayi yai yai yai yiddly-yiddly-yiddly yippy-i-o-kiyay!" exclaimed Data, nearly dropping the box. "He's up to his neck in trouble this time!" 

The mech took no notice of the little monkey, its pilot concentrating solely on Rock, who was busy dodging bombs, gunfire, the Feldynaught's feet, and occasionally guided fireballs bigger than he was, and firing at it with his Buster. Rock jumped over a fireball, grabbed onto one of the legs, and started firing at the cockpit. The Feldynaught slammed its leg into another building, knocking him sprawling towards Data. 

"If whoever's piloting that thing said they'll teach you not to mess with 'em, they're a really good instructor," commented Data. 

"Data," said Rock, "this isn't really the time to -- Whoa!" He scooped Data up in his arms and threw himself to the side to avoid another fireball. 

"Shee-yowks!" said Data. "Thanks for the help. Uh, I'll stay out of the way for now." He dashed off towards the north wall. 

Rock ducked under another bomb and got off another shot at the Feldynaught before it tried to step on him; and suddenly he got an inspiration. He took out a splash mine, slipped behind one of the legs, and hurriedly stuck the mine into one of the joints on the armor. It exploded, leaving an ugly scorch mark and opening a hole in the armor. 

Tron, meanwhile, grimaced at several of the readouts on the monitors. Several of the Feldynaught's systems were inching towards the red, and so far she hadn't killed the blue boy yet. This was turning out like the fight with Glyde ... 

She had the Feldynaught jump again, hoping to crush him. When she landed, she failed to feel a sickening crunch through its legs, indicating that she'd missed. But now he wasn't on any of the monitors. 

"Where is he?" she muttered, swiveling the Feldynaught around, trying to find him. And then she found him. 

"At a VENDING MACHINE!?" she exclaimed, shocked at his apparent cockiness. "Okay, this is getting ridiculous!" 

Rock put in some Zennies and accepted a can of soda from the machine. He turned and raced towards the giant robot, which was dashing towards him. It looked like it was about to send off another fireball ... 

Rock dodged to the side and ran behind the damaged leg. He popped the soda can, threw it into the small hole in the armor, and raced away as fast as he could. If he wasn't going to win this fight easily, he wanted to have some fun anyway. Besides, if Tron got mad enough, she'd probably lose concentration and let him get more shots in as well as missing more often. 

Unbeknownst to him, each of the Feldynaught's large feet had a small generator to assist with the intense power required for a robot that big. The can was smashed in the machinery and soda poured into the generator, which promptly exploded, taking most of the leg with it. 

The power surge initiated a chain reaction, causing the other four legs to explode, and the cockpit -- which was basically all that was left of the Feldynaught -- fell to the ground and blew apart. Tron was thrown clear and landed on the ground, looking a bit blackened and roasted. 

Rock jogged over, guessing that it was safe. He was also somewhat embarassed about potentially harming her, even if she was a pirate... "Um, I'm s -- I mean ..." He had no idea what to say. 

Tron got to her feet, apparently still with dignity despite being covered head to toe in soot. "Not bad," she said. "Not bad at all. I'll give you credit for that. But the --" 

A Drache flew over and landed near by, ruining Tron's speech. "Miss Tron, are you all right??" said a Servbot from inside. The hatch opened. "Get in, quick!" 

"Right," said Tron, smoldering. She got up to the door and turned to Rock. "It's not over yet! Don't think you've won!" she warned. "Next time, I won't be so easy on you! I'll make sure you pay for this!" She seemed to run out of words. "Let's go!" she shouted to the Servbots, and slammed the door behind her. The Drache flew away. 

Data hopped over to Rock. "She was goin' _easy_ on you?" he chuckled. "Didn't know you had it in you." 

Rock blinked. "I don't know what you're talking about," he said. 

"Hmm ..." said Data. "Oh, whatever. You think yer Buster can handle long-range?" 

"Uh ..." Rock fired off his Buster. The gout of plasma disappeared after a few feet. 

What Data said next is best described as "....." Then he added, "That's no good, MegaMan. Here, I got an upgrade for ya!" He opened the box he had been carrying and handed Rock what appeared to be a small length of tubing with some machinery on it. 

"What's this?" said Rock. 

"Put it on the D-tunnel in yer Buster," said Data. "Now it'll go twenty feet." 

Rock installed the part. "Okay," he said. "What now?" 

"Now you go to City Hall," said Data. "Didja think Her Royal Highness and those Lego people in tanks were the only ones here? There's about to be a real air raid on City Hall!" 

Rock was already halfway to the north gate. 

* * * * *

"Quiet down, everyone!" said Dan. "I've got the TV to work!" 

The Yass Plains were crowded with the island's entire population, minus those who were stranded in City Hall. Roll pushed her way to the front where she could get a better look at the television set. Dan hooked it up to a portable generator and turned it on. 

"... here. Indications are that the mysterious group of pirates will continue its offensive for the foreseeable future," the reporter on the screen was saying. Behind her, several large robots made threatening motions towards City Hall. "Recaping our top story of the day -- At two o'clock this afternoon, the city center has been attacked by a group of unknown pirates, who demanded that they be given the keys to the caves and tunnels underneath this island. The mayor has refused to give in to their demands and is currently being held under seige. Local police are helpless against the power of the pirates' weapons. It may only be a matter of time before City Hall will be destroyed ... Hopes are rapidly fading as --" Someone off-camera handed her a piece of paper. "I've just been handed this update viewers: It appears that the machines used to lay sedge to the city have been destroyed by a single young boy! And now, that same boy has come through the gate and is heading toward City Hall!" 

The camera angle changed slightly. "It's Rock!" exclaimed Roll, and was shushed by those around her. 

"Huh?" said Dan, looking at the television. "Well, I'll be..." 

"Can this lone hero save the mayor!?" intoned the reporter. 

* * * * *

Rock was immediately in the thick of it. Around him were robots obviously designed for destruction. Some of them were yellow; some of them were red; all had **Maiberu Haagen** and a number printed on the side in large letters. The yellow ones seemed intent on trashing any buildings they got near, while the red ones seemed to ignore everything in favor of City Hall and also had less armor. 

Rock started to blast them apart, when he saw three large flying mechs with arms. 

"Horunisse Deployers away!" he heard a Servbot's voice say. Then he was fighting for his life as the three robots dropped bombs towards him and tried to ram him. They came from all directions, and in the confusion, he had no idea where to aim. 

He happened to glance towards City Hall and saw a Maiberu Haagen trying to break into one of the windows. He abandoned the Horunisses and blasted the ground robot to bits before it could do further damage. 

Rock looked around and saw one of the Horunisses charging straight towards him. He blasted it as it approached him, and at the last minute it pulled upwards ... only to bounce off one side of City Hall and crash into the ground. 

"One down, two to go," he muttered. And then he saw that one of the Horunisses had left. The other didn't seem to be paying much attention to him, so he set about destroying the rest of the Haagens. The Horunisse immediately started charging towards him, throwing bombs. He timed his dodging correctly ... and some of the bombs destroyed two of the Haagens. 

By this time, the third Horunisse was returning. In its arms it carried another Maiberu Haagen. And the second Horunisse was starting to fly away, apparently with the intent of getting more Maiberu Haagens. 

Rock yelled in frustration and blasted away at the two robots, untill the Haagen was destroyed and the Horunisse was smoking. It threw a bomb and sent him sprawling. 

"Bombs, hard-to-say names, pirates with giant robots ..." muttered Rock. "This has NOT been my day!" 

As if to accent this, a Maiberu Haagen charged towards him, apparently mistaking him for a building. He blew it apart with a few shots from his Buster. 

The Horunisse currently on the field flew towards him, apparently trying to ram him. He jumped up to the top, pulled open the door, and threw out the Servbots inside. It looked like it was designed for a human, with booster chairs for the Servbots to use. He threw them out and sat at the controls, pulling up before he crashed into the ground. 

"Okay, now how do I work this ..." he muttered, glancing at the controls and the main viewscreen. "Okay, what happens if I do this?" He pushed a button and several bombs destroyed most of the Haagens. "Nice," he said. 

The remaining Horunisse dropped its Maiberu Haagen in astonishment when it saw what was going on. Its pilots quickly deduced that a hostile force had taken over the other flying mech, and tried to grapple at him. 

"Uh-oh," said Rock. "I'll try spinning. That's a good trick." He threw his Horunisse into a barrel roll, and the second aircraft crashed into another group of Haagens. "That was a close one," he said. 

Then he realized that that was all of the Maiberu Haagens! He had won! "Woo-hoo!" he exclaimed, flying the Horunisse around. (He was starting to get the hang of how to handle it.) "I've won!" 

Then he had a sudden premonition. He turned the Horunisse around and saw a large, orange robot hovering above City Hall. It looked odd, to say the least. Its face gave more the impression of a giant baby than anything else. "Babuuuuu~!" it said. 

"What!?" exclaimed Rock. "I'm being attacked by a giant _baby!?_" 

The robot fired ten missiles at him. Rock threw his Horunisse out of the way to avoid them, and they all collided and exploded. Then the "baby" fired a long streamer from its "mouth", slamming into the side. 

"Uh-oh," said Rock, as most of the readouts started yelling red lights at him. He tried to bring it down nicely, but he overcompensated and started going almost straight up. The engines promptly failed, and Rock pressed a large red button labeled **Eject**. The Horunisse collided head-on with the "baby." There was a massive explosion, and Rock and the "baby's" head fell to the ground. 

A Drache with a magnet attatched to the bottem flew towards them. "Master Bon! Are you all right?!" exclaimed a Servbot from inside as the magnet picked up the "baby's" head. 

"Ba ... bu ..." said Bon groggily as the Drache flew away. 

Rock sat up, giving himself a once-over. His armor was badly damaged. "Okay," he said. "NOW I've won." 


	8. Chapter 6: Field of Explosions

**_MEGA MAN LEGENDS_**   
Chapter 6   
Field of Explosions

In the depths of the Gesellschaft sat a man wearing a green suit of Digger armor. His spiky, silver hair shot out behind his head; his eyes were hidden behind red goggles. His name was Teisel Bonne. 

"It's about time for Tron and Bon to report in," he muttered to himself. "I'd better go turn on the comm." He flipped a switch on the device. 

Five minutes went by. 

"What happened to Tron and Bon!?" growled Teisel. "They should've called back by now! Oh, those two ..." He blinked and tried to relax. "No, I told them they were in charge, so I won't worry -- I let them take care of it themselves. Must've forgotten to report in. I've done that." 

He glanced at the clock sitting above his television set. "Hey! It's almost time for 'It's a Digger's Life'! I almost missed it!" He sat down and flipped the TV set on with his remote, accidentally on a news channel. 

"... to its disadvantage," the reporter was saying."Next story, City Hall was attacked by a mysterious group of pirates this afternoon, but their offensive was beaten back by an equally mysterious young boy." Images of the boy crashing a Horunisse into Bon were shown. "We have not yet had a chance to interview him, but he ..." 

Teisel sat staring at the television screen, his mouth hanging open. "_WHAT!?_" he screamed. "Who the heck IS that blue boy!? This is a potential disaster! We could end up losing a lot of money on this one! Even more than that 'millyard incident!'" He composed himself (sort of). "All right. It's obvious that _I'll_ have to assume command! Who needs that key anyway? It might take some time, and it might take some money, but who cares?" He stood up and struck a dramatic pose (even though there was no one watching). "I use my ultimate digging machine, the Marlwolf, to dig up the treasure myself, and I won't let any blue boy get in my way, either!" He cackled in a manner that he hoped sounded evil, and then noticed something else on the screen. 

"... young woman was at the scene beforehand," said the reporter. A low-quality image of Tron was scene. "We also have indications that she was in one of the robots that had been laying siege to the city beforehand, but no further information can be--" 

Teisel turned off the television. "Uh-oh," he muttered. "Bon's going to be okay ... but what about Tron?" 

* * * * *

"Rock!" exclaimed Roll, racing towards him. 

"Roll!" said Rock. 

Roll looked him over. "You," she said, "are a mess." 

"I know," he said. "But I did it!" 

"You sure did," said Roll. "Now let's go look for Gramps!" 

"Right," said Rock. 

They went into City Hall. The people who hadn't escaped to the Yass Plains were looking somewhat shaken, but seemed unharmed. A receptionist directed Rock and Roll to the Mayor's office. 

"Roll, Rock, you're all right!" exclaimed Barrell as the two entered. "Sorry to give you a scare like that!" 

"We were worried about you, Gramps!" said Roll, giving her grandfather a hug. 

"Well don't be," replied Barrel. "I'm as healthy as I ever was!" He chuckled. 

Amelia turned to Rock. "With your help, we were able to keep those pirates from getting the key to the ruins," she said. "Thank you!" 

"Any time," said Rock. 

"Ah, Rock, you don't have to be so humble!" chortled Barrell. "But anyways, Amelia, what was that you said about a Diggers' license as a reward?" 

Amelia smiled. "I know it's not much, but it's the least I can do for you," she said. She handed Rock a card bearing the words **Digger License - Class B**. 

"Great!" said Rock. "Now we can look for parts to fix the _Flutter_!" 

"Now," said Roll, "we can rest up from all this excitement and get your armor fixed and cleaned up so the next time a Reaverbot hits you it doesn't fall off you! C'mon, let's go back to the Spotter car!" 

"Yes ma'am!" said Rock with mock chagrin as she led him out of the room. 

Barrel laughed. "Those two are cute," he said. 

* * * * *

Rock sat in the Spotter's car, wearing shorts and a T-shirt while Roll and Dan busied themselves with his armor. "I'm sure glad everyone was evacuated to the plains," he said. "Did you see the damage that robot did?" 

"Yeah," said Roll. "I'm sure glad _you_ fared better!" 

"Aw, c'mon!" said Dan. "This kid's stronger than a bunch of pirates!" 

Rock looked at a particularly nasty scrape on the back of the armor. "A little from column A, a little from column B." 

Roll snorted. "Well, at least it isn't as bad as it _could_ be," she said. 

"Give us maybe an hour and this'll be as good as new," said Dan. "Maybe we should work on figuring out how to get this armor to take more hits?" 

"Maybe I should work on not getting hit in the first place," said Rock. "Reaverbots with no brains are one thing, but if these guys show up again ..." 

"Right," said Roll. "Don't overtax yourself, Rock." 

Rock chuckled. "Don't worry," he said. "I'll be careful." 

* * * * *

"Now, about that treasure," said Barrell. "I still haven't found much on it." 

"I suspected as much," said Amelia. "I'm glad you're helping us out. I just wish we knew whether the legends about the disaster are true." 

"Right," said Barrell. "It could be just a myth, but still, you don't really want to count on stuff like that being false." 

"Exactly," said Amelia. "Once I convince the library to reopen, you'll have full access to it." 

"Thanks," said Barrel. "If I find anything, one way or the other, I promise you'll be the first to know. After Rock, anyway, if I run into him first." 

"As I said, I appreciate your help," said Amelia. "And I'll understand if there's a --" 

The inspector walked in. "Excuse me, Your Honor," he said. "We have a new problem." 

* * * * *

"The pirates are digging up the northern forest!?" exclaimed Rock (who was now back in his armor). 

"They weren't able to get the key," reasoned Amelia, "so they must be going after the treasure directly." 

She had sent an officer to get Rock and Roll over to City Hall. The car was now fixed up, so Roll had driven them, and they were now in the mayor's office. 

"I'm amazed they'd go to that much trouble," said Barrell. "Even if they are criminals, you've got to admire their persistence!" 

"Yeah, that or gape at their audacity," said Dan. "I mean, they're already up and running again, and Superboy here just singlehandedly stopped one of their attacks an hour ago!" Rock blushed at this. 

"Well, it could be that they were planning on this kind of thing anyway," said Roll. 

"Who knows what will happen if they get their hands on the treasure," murmured Amelia. "Inspector, I want you to arrest them immediately!" 

"Um, I think what will happen is they'll sell it for lots of money," said Dan. 

They explained about the disaster. 

"Oh," said Dan. "Well then I guess you'd better stop them." 

"Right," said the inspector with a chuckle. 

As they left the building, Rock, Dan, and Roll saw several police cars driving off. "There goes the Inspector and his men, off to get the pirates," said Roll. 

"I wonder if they'll be all right..." muttered Dan. 

"Hmmmm," said Rock. "If they're using weapons like they did before, they might have some trouble... Not to mention..." 

"...not to mention that the pirates are likely to steal everything if they get there first!" finished Roll. 

"I think I'd better go help them," said Rock. 

"Oughta be no problem for you, but it's a good thing I managed to give your armor that 'flak jacket'," said Dan, referring to an extra protective measure he and Roll had added. 

"Be careful, Rock!" said Roll. 

"Right!" said Rock. "See you later." 

* * * * *

Several tanks bearing the same emblem as the Draches stood just beyond the entrance to the Clozer Woods. "Leopordo Tanks, report in!" said the Servbot in command of one of them. "You doin' okay, #37?" 

_"Doin' just fine, 21!"_ said #37's voice over the radio. 

"Howabout you, 16?" said #21. 

_"That last police officer hit me once or twice, but I'm still 85% okay!"_ said #16. 

"Howabout you, #40?" said #21. 

_"Rarin' to-go!"_ said #40. 

_"We've got company!"_ said the voice of #16 from another tank. _"He doesn't look like a police officer ..."_

#21 saw him. "Hey, it's that blue boy from before!" he exclaimed. 

_"We ain't gonna lose this time!"_ growled #40. _"I give him ten minutes."_

* * * * *

Teisel growled in frustration. "What gives!?" he exclaimed. "I dig and I dig, but I'm still nowhere near the bottom!" He sighed. "Maybe we will need that key after all..." He then noticed a group of scorched-looking Servbots. "Uh-oh." 

"Master Teisel! We were beaten!" whimpered #21. 

"...in five minutes!" added #40. "That blue boy is heading this way!" 

"He's coming?" exclaimed Teisel. "All right, everyone, quit digging! Our priority now is to get rid of our little blue friend, all right!? Be careful and don't be fooled by his size--he's already beaten Bon and Tron! Let's do it!" 

"Roger!" exclaimed the Servbots. 

Rock arrived on the scene and saw a very large yellow robot. It had clawed arms and what he assumed was the Bonnes' emblem, and it ran around the enormous hole it was in on caterpillar treads. In the middle of the hole was the entrance to the ruins, held up to what had once been ground level by a column of earth. "Oh boy," he muttered. "Well, I guess I'll have to fight it." He jumped down into the hole. 

"So, you've come to face me, the glorious Teisel Bonne, leader of the pirates!" roared Teisel over a loudspeaker. "Well, forget it! My Marlwolf mech has the latest in plasma-shielding armor! Your little pea shooter won't even scratch my paint job!" 

Rock experimented a bit; his Buster had no effect on the armor. 

"See?" said Teisel. "My turn." 

The Marlwolf charged forward. Rock tried to dodge, but was knocked backwards. He got up and raced to the side to avoid getting hit again ... and then a series of bombs were launched from inside the machine. Rock had to run as fast as he could to avoid getting hit. 

"I told you it was no use!" sneered Teisel. "Give it up!" 

Rock noticed that its treads weren't armored, so he fired at them, knocking part of a segment. He realized that if he disabled them, the Marlwolf wouldn't be able to run him over. He jumped over to the column supporting the entrance to the ruins to avoid another charge, and started blasting away at the treads. 

"Hey, are you paying attention?" yelled Teisel. He didn't sound as smug anymore. "You're not gonna get through this robot's armor!" 

Rock took of the baldric with the splash mines and activated them all. He then ran right into the Marlwolf's path, dropped the baldric, and broke into a dead run. Teisel took the bait and charged towards him. Rock heard one of the Servbots exclaim, "No, wait!" before there was a massive series of explosions ... and the Marlwolf ran right off its treads. 

"Why that little..." muttered Teisel, completely failing to move the Marlwolf at any great speed. "What does he think he's doing!?" 

Rock jumped up a path to the ledge, where he was now level with the Marlwolf's cockpit. The hatch opened, and a Servbot hopped out with a bomb and threw it at Rock, who easily dodged it and fired at the open hatch. 

Teisel dodged the plasma shots, which damaged some of the control panels. "What do you think you're doing!?" he snapped at the Servbot. "Hurry up and close the hatch!" The Servbot obeyed, and Teisel pushed a switch that raised the Marlwolf's arms, then activated the plasma digging claws. "Hmm, that's no good," he said, and swung the arms towards Rock as best he could. 

A huge sphere of plasma was thrown at the blue boy, who barely managed to avoid getting melted. "Now that was cool," said Teisel. "Let's try it again ... after another barrage of bombs." 

They launched another series of bombs, but Rock managed to destroy each of them even before they hit the ground. Teisel muttered some curses, and then got hit in the back by a plasma shot. "Ack!" he exclaimed. "I thought I told you to close the hatch!" Why did this Servbot think that getting out and lobbing bombs was a good idea?? Teisel turned back to the controls, and then noticed that his order had not been obeyed. "I _SAID,_ CLOSE the HATCH!" he screamed, turning to the entrance. 

"Hi," said Rock, tossing the bomb and the Servbot back in. 

Teisel had just enough time for a stream of invective to enter his head before it went off. The wires below the floor caught on fire. 

"AUUGH!" yelled Teisel. "What are you standing around for!? Put out the fire!!" 

"The automated fire extingushiers aren't working!!" yelped the Servbot. "The coolant's leaking and the power core is overloading!" 

"What!?" exclaimed Teisel. "But -- but -- but -- How could I have been defeated by that little, blue-armored son-of-a--" 

The Marlwolf's armor was designed to resist against plasma, but this did not take into account a massive explosion from inside. When Teisel landed, he could only sit gaping at the smoking crater that had once been the Marlwolf. "How much does he think it costs to build that in the first place?" he mumbled. "I'll get him if it's the last thing I ever do...I mean..." 

An elevator pad landed next to him. "Master Teisel!" exclaimed one of the Servbots. "Are you all right??" He pulled Teisel onto the pad, which started to lift up. 

Teisel regained his composure. "Just you wait!!" he called down. "Oh, you're mine, blue boy -- I'll get you!" 

Rock scratched his head. "Time to go home," he said to himself. 

The radio in Rock's armor crackled to life. _"Rock! Can you hear me?"_ said Roll. _"The mayor says there's something real important she has to talk with you about ... Can you come back here?"_

"Roger," said Rock. "I'll head back to City Hall." 


	9. Chapter 7: Dungeon Crawl

**_MEGA MAN LEGENDS_**   
Chapter 7   
Dungeon Crawl

Tron, Teisel, Bon, and several Servbots sat in the Gesellschaft's meeing room. 

"If only we'd known there was someone like him here in the first place!" growled Teisel. "We won't fail this time! We'll ambush him--concentrate all our firepower on him!" He cackled. "We won't cut him any slack just because we outnumber him! That kid's goin' DOWN!" 

"Just wait till you see, Teisel!" said Tron. "I've got a new robot I've been wanting to build that'll do the trick! That'll teach him!" 

"This time," said Teisel, "we get rid of Blue Boy for sure--and get that treasure!" 

"Babuuu~!" said Bon emphatically. 

The Servbots, however, paid no real attention to the discussion. 

* * * * *

Rock returned to the Mayor's office. 

"Good going, Rock!" said Barrell, giving him a slap on the back. "You showed those pirates who's the boss!" 

"How can I thank you? You've done so much for us," said Amelia. "I hope this will convince those pirates to give up. I'm afraid to think what might happen if they get their hands on the treasure." 

"You gotta watch out for the disaster even if those legends are just a myth, right?" said Barrell. 

"Correct," said Amelia. "But lately we've been detecting increased activity underground--the Reaverbots are apparently activating of their own accord. It has me concerned. Rock, would you be willing to explore the caves and ruins on this island, and see if you can find anything?" 

"Of course I will!" said Rock. "Otherwise I might have to give up my Digger's license!" 

"Thank you so much," said Amelia. "And speaking of which, you'll need this -- an A-class license." 

"Thanks," said Rock, taking the card. "I'm beginning to feel like a pro now." 

Amelia smiled slightly. "Indeed," she said. "I give you my permission to dig in the island's Sub-Gates--just let me know if you find anything that can tell us about the treasure or that disater that's supposed to happen if the treasure's disturbed." 

"I will," said Rock. "You can count on me!" 

* * * * *

The Spotter's car was still parked in front of City Hall, so Rock went in. 

"Hey Rock," said Roll. "You did a good job out there!" 

"Enough with the compliments," said Rock. "I've gotten enough from Barrell and the mayor." 

"Ah, how humble," said Data. 

Dan chuckled. "Aww, you're a good kid," he said. "Say, when we were out in the Yass Plains, I found this old crash helmet in a box outside." 

"Yeah," said Roll, taking the blue helmet her workbench. "And now we've fixed it up so you'll have some protection for your head!" 

Data said, "Actually, isn't your skull thick enough already?" 

"Oh, be quiet, you," said Rock. 

Dan looked from one to the other in confusion. "What's up, now?" 

"Uh, apparently Rock's the only one who can understand Data's speech," said Roll. "Nobody knows how." 

"Well, thanks for the helmet," said Rock, trying it on. It fit perfectly. "You paint it to be the color of my armor, or did you just add some metal with the same color scheme?" 

"Both," said Dan. "That light-blue bar was added and the rest of it was grey beforehand." 

"So what's up?" asked Roll. 

Rock explained about Amelia's request. 

Dan nodded. "I think the easiest place to get to is the ruins in the Cardon forest south of your 'landing site'," he said. "Nobody's really been able to get much from 'em, but I bet _you_ could do it." 

"Well then let's take the car and go," said Roll. 

"I can't, though," said Dan. "I've got to get back to the shop." 

"Well then goodbye," said Roll. "We'll see you later." 

* * * * *

The first thing Rock saw when he arrived at the Cardon Forest was a group of Leopordo tanks. "Here we go again," he muttered. 

The car came up behind him. "I'm here to back you up," said Roll from inside. "If you get in too much trouble, get inside and so I can get you to safety." 

"Don't worry," said Rock. "I can handle these guys." 

And handle them he did. The Servbots simply didn't have the tactical skill to pull off a concerted attack on a moving target, nor could they defend adequately against a moving attacker. Circling around the Leopordos and strafing them with his Buster, Rock quickly destroyed all three of them. 

"It's not over yet," said Roll. "There's still a bunch more." 

"Roger," said Rock, continuing forward. "I see 'em. Looks like they've got a few gun batteries as well ..." 

"Be careful, Rock!" 

"I will." 

The nearest Leopordo didn't look like it had seen him, and he still had Data's range booster, so he fired from afar. The Servbot didn't even have time to react to him before its tank was destroyed. 

And so it went: either getting them from afar or moving in a confusing zig-zag pattern, he quickly got rid of the remaining tanks and the gun batteries, and then found himself at a wooden fence. 

"Hmm," said Roll. "The entrance to the ruins should be beyond that ... I'm gonna ram it, Rock! Stand back!" 

Rock stood back, and the truck rammed through the fence with a crunch, startlng away the Servbots who had set it up. 

"Well, here goes nothing," said Rock. 

He transmitted the signal for opening doors. Ponderously, the door to the ruins unlocked itself and opened. 

* * * * *

Rock descended the lift to the interior of the ruins. 

_"Hmm ... I'm detecting a strong energy reading to your right,"_ said Roll. _"It could be a refractor!"_

Rock turned and saw it. It was a large refractor, suspended in a pulsing yellow energy shield. 

"Yup," he said. "It's a big one, all right. Looks like it's shielded, though." 

_"Hmph. Can you see any kind of console?"_

"There's one right in front of it," said Rock, walking over. "Hmm, there's three empty slots. Doesn't look like any other controls, either." 

_"I bet this is one of those fun places where we need to find three starter keys scattered all over before we can lower the field,"_ Roll said drily. 

"Yeah, but remember," said Rock, looking around, "we're here for information, not just to find big refractors." 

He saw a door in one wall and went through it. A short passageway led to a much larger cavern. 

_"You see anything?"_ said Roll. 

"Yep," said Rock. "A whole bunch of platforms all around. They look too high for me to jump up if I fall ..." 

_"... and I'm picking up some Reaverbot signals as well,"_ said Roll. _"Be careful!"_

"I will," said Rock, walking along. "Although seriously, if I _really_ wanted to be careful, I most likely wouldn't have chosen Digging as -- What the heck!?" 

What he had mistaken for a decoration on one platform had opened up, releasing a small, insectoid robot, which was now flying towards him. 

_"A Jakko,"_ said Roll. _"They hide in nests until someone gets near them ..."_

Rock was already blasting away at the Jakko and the Jakko's Nest. Unfortunately, destroying the nest released all the Jakkos inside it, forcing Rock to hurriedly fire in all directions to destroy them before they returned the favor. 

When they were all destroyed, he saw something shining on one of the platforms. "I think I've found the first Starter key," he said. 

_"Great,"_ said Roll. _"Can you get to it?"_

"I think so," said Rock, looking around. He saw a raised bridge on a nearby platform and jumped across to it. With a single shot from his Buster, the bridge was knocked down, and he crossed it to pick up the key. 

_"I'm picking up a faint signal,"_ said Roll. _"That's one of the starter keys, all right."_

"One down, two to go," said Rock. 

He looked around. More Jakko's Nests, and more bridges. This would probably take a while. 

* * * * *

"Some sort of machinery here," said Rock as he entered the room. It had brighter colors than the others. "Looks like a trash compactor or something." 

Roll said, _"I wonder if you -- look out behind you!"_

Rock whirled around and saw a Reaverbot that looked like a golden, floating eye. He fired a single shot and it exploded noisily. 

_"A Foo-Roo,"_ said Roll. _"They sneak up and blow themselves up if you're not careful."_

"I'd better be careful to keep an eye out for 'em," said Rock. He leaned against a wall to catch his breath, and abruptly the compactor activated itself. 

Rock jumped away in alarm, but the compactor just sat there, rotating and grinding anything that got near it to dust. A conveyor belt leading to it was also now running. Rock sheepishly looked at the wall and saw that he had leaned against a switch. 

_"What happened, Rock?"_

"I, uh, turned it on," said Rock. He pushed the switch again and the machinery fell silent. "I think I'll explore some more." He started down the hallway to another chamber. "I feel like I'm in a maze of twisty passages, all alike ..." 

Roll giggled. _"Kinda like that time you got lost on that dig for three days, when I was still inexperienced,"_ she said. _"It's a good thing Gramps was with you, or who knows what might have happened."_

Rock rolled his eyes. "How could I forget," he said as he entered another chamber. "When I got out, I don't think I'd ever tasted a better glass of ice water. Speaking of ice ..." 

_"Yeah, the temperature's lower in this room,"_ said Roll. 

"I'm thinking more of the ice platforms in the upper part of the room," said Rock. "Hmm ... looks like there's a chest up there." 

He jogged up a ramp and across the ice platforms to the chest. The ice platform under him promptly shattered, and he and the chest fell onto the conveyor belt. 

"Whoa," said Rock. 

_"You okay?"_ said Roll anxiously. 

"I'm fine," said Rock. He tried the latching mechanism on the chest. "Looks like the chest is rusted shut, though." 

_"Hmm ... I wonder how we can find out what's in it,"_ said Roll. 

Rock considered. "I've got an idea," he said. 

A moment later, the chest was completely smashed to bits by the compactor. Rock hurriedly shut it down, and went over to examine the wreckage. "I found the second starter key!" he said. 

_"Good!"_ said Roll. _"One more and you'll get the Refractor."_

Rock said, "I think I saw another room past those ice platforms. I'll go check it out." 

* * * * *

The platforms led to the main room again, but it was on a higher ledge at one end. "Well, here we are again," said Rock. "Anything new?" 

_"Doesn't look like there's any big Reaverbots anywhere,"_ said Roll. _"Still, you'd better stay on your toes."_

Rock crossed the ledge towards another set of doors, but paused. "There's some sort of cubbyhole in the wall," he said. He reached in and pulled out a pair of odd contraptions with springs. "Huh," he said. "I'll see what you think later. 

Behind the door was a room with what appeared to be three generators. 

_"I'm picking up an energy barrier,"_ said Roll. _"Can you see it?"_

"Yep," said Rock. There it was, at the far side of the room. 

_"Bet there's some kind of switch,"_ said Roll. 

"Sweetch? We don't need no steenkin' sweetch!" said Rock. He blasted at all three of the generators with his Buster. 

This failed to have an effect on any of them. "Okay, maybe we do," said Rock. Roll giggled. 

On each of the devices was a button. Rock hurriedly pushed each one, then dashed over to where the energy shields had been. Now they were gone. Rock jumped through, just as the barriers went up again. 

_"That was close,"_ said Roll. 

"Tell me about it," said Rock. "Now where am I?" 

He was in a short passageway leading back to the main room. The problem was, he was about twenty feet above the ground. On the floor was the third key. 

"I've got the last starter key," he said. 

_"You're pretty high up,"_ said Roll. _"You sure you can make it?"_

"One way to find out," said Rock, and he jumped. "Cowabunga!" 

He missed the platform he was aiming for and crashed to the floor, ten feet lower. "Ouch!" 

Instantly, a green Reaverbot ran towards him. _"A Sharukurusu!"_ said Roll. _"Watch out!"_

Rock jumped to his feet and prepared to fire. The Sharukurusu jabbed him with its claw and sent him sprawling. He quickly got up and started shooting it with his Buster. It had nearly reached him again before it exploded. 

_"Are you okay?"_ said Roll. 

"... I'm fine," panted Rock. He looked down at his chest. "I think you'll need ... to fix my armor again." He caught his breath and started back towards the entrance. 

* * * * *

He put the starter keys in. Instantly, the console folded in on itself and revealed another one. 

"Hmm ... I've turned on this computer thing," he said. "Let's see ... status report ... system controls ... Ah, here we go." 

He pushed at a switch and the energy shield disappeared. Rock now clearly saw the large, yellow Refractor hovering above the pedestal. He reached out, grabbed the Refractor, and pulled. With a slight buzzing noise, it came loose from the force field. 

For five tense seconds, nothing happened. 

After the five seconds were over, nothing continued to happen. "Nothing's ... happening?" said Rock dumbly. 

He shrugged and turned around. "I've got the Refractor," he said. "I'm on my way back up." 

_"Good,"_ said Roll. _"It's getting late."_

"Yeah, today just flew by, didn't it?" said Rock, as the elevator went up to the surface. 


	10. Chapter 8: Going Uptown

Author's Note: Sorry this chapter was a bit late, and relatively short, but it was kind of a drag. Still, after about a month of no updates, I decided to finish the paragraph I was on and just upload the thing. 

**_MEGA MAN LEGENDS_**   
Chapter 8   
Going Uptown

In the depths of the night, the _Gesellschaft_ hovered above Kattelox Island. A small group of Draches flew out of the bottom and landed near the western docks. 

Twelve Servbots disembarked and made for a nearby boathouse. Servbots, when they really put an effort into it, can be quite silent, and silent they were, as they went among the boats, removing their anchors and letting them float out into the lake, where the _Gesellschaft_ waited. 

"I betcha the paint job'll cost more money than the machinery installation," Servbot #12 muttered to #10. 

"Quiet," said #10. "We gotta keep it down here or we'll get caught." 

"Sorry. Anyway, what do we do with that grey one? The one with the cracked Refractor casing?" said #12. 

#10 considered this a moment. "Leave it," he said finally. "We've got enough for now." 

* * * * *

Rock woke up in an unfamiliar room. It took him a moment to remember that he was in the Spotter's car, and what's more, the _Flutter_ was still entirely unfit for being slept in. He rolled over with the intent of going back to sleep. 

He promptly sat up in surprise as Data blew a party noisemaker in his ear. "Rise and shine, MegaMan!" exclaimed the monkey. "Today's another big day!" 

Rock said, "You know, Data, I think that would be slightly more effective if you didn't do that every day." 

"Hey, it works!" cackled Data. "Now get up. I think Roll's cookin' up something good." 

The car had a small kitchenette, and it was here that Rock found Roll. "Good morning, Rock," she said. "Want some eggs and toast?" 

"That'll be great," said Rock. "Haven't had something like this in a while." 

"I got it from the Jetlag Bakery in Apple Market," said Roll. "They sure know how to make good toasting bread." 

"You can say that again," said Rock. "Where's Barrell?" 

"He left early," said Roll, serving eggs and toast on one plate for him and another for herself. "I get the feeling he couldn't that big dinner we had last night." 

Rock decided as he ate that the fancy restaurant Amelia had treated them to was not an experience he was likely to forget. "I hate to think what they'd have for breakfast," he commented wryly. "By the way, did you find out anything about that spring set?" 

Roll put down her fork. "Well, it looks like they should fit around the leg compartments of your armor," she said. "If I install them, you'll be able to jump twice as high as you could before." 

"Great," said Rock. "That'll definitely make things easier. So what's in store for today?" 

"I dunno," said Roll. "Let's head back to the Cardon ruins and see what other machinery we can scrounge up. After that ... maybe we can look around town some more, maybe go to that Uptown section in the western end." 

"Sounds cool," said Rock. 

* * * * *

Rock emerged from the ruins with a satchel full of machinery. 

"Not sure what we'll be able to do with this," he said, as Roll looked through it, "but knowing you and Barrell it'll go a long way towards fixing the Flutter." 

"You bet," said Roll. 

After lunch he changed into a white turtleneck and blue jeans, then went for a walk Uptown. He found to his delight that nobody in the town recognized him without his armor, and his walk was free of comments from complete strangers about how he had saved the town and fought off the pirates three times in one day. 

Uptown was the location of the hospital and television station, as well as other places whose sole purposes seemed to be for what people did in their spare time. Rock saw a museum and an arcade, among other things. 

At the edge of the water, he saw a boathouse. The sign at the top proclaimed, **Wily's Boats**, as well as a list of rates for renting a boat. Rock thought for a moment that it would be fun to take Roll for a "cruise", and then he remembered overhearing that the entrance to more ruins were on an island in the middle of Lake Jynn. 

"Could kill two birds with one stone," he muttered to himself as he approached the boathouse. 

But when he entered, the scene was one of palpable tension. An old man -- presumably Wily -- was pacing behind the counter, muttering curses. 

"What's up?" Rock asked a girl who was walking towards the exit. 

"Someone stole all the boats here," she said. "Now the only one left is an old broken-down one." 

Wily noticed him. "Need a boat?" he said. "Normally, you could take your pick, but we don't have any boats right now. Sorry." 

"Can I go look?" said Rock. 

"Go ahead, but I don't see the point," said Wily. "Someone's gone and stole all my boats! I've only got one left, and it's broken down. If I get my hands on those pirates ..." 

"The pirates did it?" exclaimed Rock. "I thought I ... uh, I thought they were beaten off." 

Wily looked him straight in the eye. "Well, that may be, boy, but if it _was_ them, I bet they're up to something. If you try and mess with them, you'd better watch your back." 

Rock swallowed. "Right," he said, and went out the back door. 

Wily had been right: there was only one boat left, and it looked somewhat in disrepair. Two harried-looking workers were making a heroic attempt to look busy. 

"Having trouble?" Rock said. 

The workers jumped and looked guiltily at him for a moment, and then relaxed into an air of annoyance. "Yes!" one of them said. "Wily's asked us to fix this boat for him, but it's beyond _our_ help! I mean, how'm _I_ supposed to fix something even _he_ can't fix in the first place, anyway?" 

"It's not _that_ bad," said the other. "The only thing wrong with this boat is the refractor casing and the power couplings. I bet if I could get my hands on a decent Refractor I could fix this boat." 

Rock considered this, smiled slightly to himself, and turned to leave. 

He stopped. A Servbot was standing on the dock around the corner, out of sight of the workers. Rock walked over to it and said, "You know someone's stolen all the other boats?" 

"Oh, really?" said the Servbot, trying to sound innocent and instead sounding forced. "I wonder why someone would do a thing like that?" 

Rock folded his arms. "Really," he said. The two construction workers had noticed this exchange and were now wondering how it would turn out. 

The Servbot looked back at him, tried to say something, and then gave up. "It wasn't me! I wasn't even on the -- Uh, nothing!" 

Rock merely gave the Servbot a stare. The stare wasn't too heavy; it was simply a look of complete and utter disregard for the lie he was being told. 

"Hey, this guy is one of those pirates, isn't he?" said the worker who had commented about the Refractor. 

"Yes," said Rock, his gaze not wavering from the Servbot. "No clue why, but they seem to rely on these little guys." 

There was a pause. "You're that blue boy who fought them off, aren't you?" said the worker. Both of them joined Rock in staring at the Servbot. 

Rock decided that there was no point in denying it. "Yep," he said, still giving the Servbot "the look." 

The Servbot decided that it couldn't handle the combined weight of their stares. "No! It was #10's group who took them!" To their surprise, it jumped right off the dock and into the water. 

"What the heck ..." said Rock. 

And then a submarine surfaced, picked up the swimming Servbot, and went back underwater again. 

* * * * *

The first thing Wily heard was a splash. And then he heard the drone of -- What in the world?? -- a boat's motor. 

He was almost at the door before Rock walked back in. "It _was_ the pirates," he said. 

"Thought it might be," said Wily. "Now what?" 

Rock considered this. "I have an idea." Then he left. 

About twenty minutes later, he walked back through the shop, followed by Roll, who was carrying a large yellow refractor. 

Wily considered this for several long moments. 

* * * * *

Roll followed Rock to the dock where the boat was tethered. 

"Someone's been taking really good care of this boat," she said, putting down her toolkit and climbing to the top deck -- which was really only big enough for one person to stand on. "There!" she said, opening the top hatchway and jumping in with the Refractor. 

"Uh, Roll?" said Rock. "Do you really think you should be doing that?" 

She gave a whistle from within. "Wouldja look at that engine!" she exclaimed. "Let's see...All we need to do is fix the transformer and install the Refractor, and it'll be as good as new!" 

Wily arrived from the boathouse. "What do you think you're you doing?" he said calmly. 

Rock sweatdropped. "Um," he said. 

"Rock, could you hand me a size-7 wrench?" said Roll, reaching out from inside the boat. 

"Just a second," said Rock, but before he could continue, Wily took a wrench from the toolkit and handed it to Roll. 

"Thanks," said Roll, and then saw Wily. "Whoops! I'm sorry ... I don't know what came over me ... I just started fixing the ship, and ..." 

Wily said, "You really love machines, don't you? I can tell just by looking at your face." 

Roll blinked, and Rock said, "Uh, Roll, your face is covered in grease." Roll blushed. 

Wily chuckled. "I'm glad I could get someone as pretty as you to fix my boat for me," he said. "Tell you what: once you're done fixing it, you can use it anytime you want." 

"Thank you, Mr. Wily," said Roll, looking much relieved. 

"I heard there were some ruins in the middle of the lake," said Rock. "Let me get my armor, and then we can explore them." 

"Sounds great," said Roll. 


	11. Chapter 9: Pirates Ahoy!

**_MEGA MAN LEGENDS_**   
Chapter 9   
Pirates Ahoy!

The Bonnes were not onboard the Gesellschaft; however, Tron and Bon were at their traditional stations at the primary controls, while Teisel sat behind them on a raised seat. 

_"Miss Tron, Master Tiesel!"_ exclaimed one of the Servbots over the radio. _"That blue boy is coming on a boat!"_

"Well what are you waiting for??" exclaimed Teisel. "Attack him already!" 

_"I only thought --"_

"Don't think!" snapped Teisel. "Attack! Release the Zuuf Geleidos!" 

* * * * *

Rock stood on the top deck of the boat. He now had an extra weapon: a "Power Buster" as Roll called it, designed for pure force. Unfortunately, it had virtually no rapid fire, and had to be regularly recharged. 

"So, there's the ruins," he said, gazing at the island in the middle of the lake. 

"Rock, I'm picking up something on the sonar," said Roll from below. "It's way too big to be a fish ... and I think it's metal. Keep an eye out, Rock!" 

"I'm ready for anything," said Rock. 

Then he heard a familiar splashing noise as two submarines like the one that had retrieved the Servbot surfaced. 

"I _knew_ it!" exclaimed Roll. "Their robots are here!" 

"Okay, then!" said Rock. "I'll take 'em out!" He fired a shot at each from the Power Buster, and both sank, but not before one of them managed to launch a torpedo. Rock hurriedly fired a blast from his Buster, but missed. The boat rocked from the impact. 

"Whoa!" exclaimed Rock. Another submarine surfaced, and he destroyed it with the Power Buster before it could get a shot off. 

"Be careful, Rock!" said Roll. "I don't think the boat can take too many hits!" 

"Then I'll make sure we don't get hit again!" said Rock, readying both his weapons. 

"Rock, ahead!" said Roll. 

He whirled around and saw another group of the submarines directly in front of the boat. One of them was close enough that he could see the words **Zuuf Geleido** emblazoned on one side. He fired at them with the Power Buster as quickly as he could, wondering as he did so how the heck you were supposed to pronounce "Zuuf Geleido", but one of them managed to fire a missile. This time, before it struck, Rock managed to destroy it with his normal Buster. 

"Looks like I got 'em all," said Rock. 

"Don't relax yet," said Roll. "I'm getting multiple signals on my sonar ... There's a lot of little weird signals coming from around us ..." 

Rock looked around. He saw the Zuuf Geleidos moving around underwater, but so far, none of them were surfacing or firing ... 

"They're above us!" exclaimed Roll. 

Rock whirled around and saw three Draches flying towards them. They were too maneuverable to easily hit with the Power Buster, but his other Buster wasn't particularly strong. Either way, the Draches still had machineguns, and on the deck (such as it was) of the boat, Rock was simply _not_ going to be dodging. 

Fortunately, if the Draches were too fast to be hit, they were also too fast to aim properly. They slowed down so that they could fire on the boat, and Rock blasted at them with the Power Buster. 

The last of the Draches plummeted into the water ... and crashed into one of several Zuuf Geleidos that were now surfacing. 

* * * * *

_"Watch your left flank, #24!"_

_"Agh, I'm hit!"_

_"They've sunk 26 and 34..."_

_"Ha! He's hit!"_

Tron winced as she listened to the Servbots' radio chatter, and then wondered why she had at that particular comment. Outside, the Servbots -- her "kids" as she affectionately called them -- were getting shot at and plunging into the sea, but it was #19's report of successfully hitting him that had made her wince. 

What was _with_ her?? He was supposed to be their new mortal enemy, and now she was more worried about him than about her Servbots. It made no sense. Why should she care if he -- if _that littel brat_ got hurt!? That's what she was aiming for, wasn't it? 

"I _knew_ our little blue boy'd show up!" Teisel was saying. "I figured we'd run into him sooner or later if we waited here!" He cackled with glee and turned to his sister. "You know what I'm thinking?" 

Tron realized that with Teisel, this was a loaded question. "No, Teisel, I don't," she said. 

"Neither do I!" he roared. "Ain't that a hoot??" He glanced at a readout screen. "Hmm, things aren't doing too good ..." 

"Babuu! Babu, babu!" said Bon. 

"Get 'em ourselves?" said Teisel. "Great idea, Bon! Now we'll get to try out this new robot! Oh, by the way, my compliments on your designs, Tron. It's probably one of your best yet." 

"Thanks," said Tron. 

"In any event, let's move out," said Teisel. "Slow ahead!" 

"Slow ahead!" said Tron. 

"Babu!" 

"All right, men!" said Teisel. "Concentrate your fire on the blue boy! Blow him and his little toy boat out of the water!" 

"But ... but Teisel!" said Tron. He turned to her, a questioning look on his face. _Uh-oh. Think fast._ "If we sink the boat, won't ... won't the key go down with it?" 

Teisel waved the objection aside. "Aww, we can have a Zuuf Geleido pick it up," he said. "'Sides, once he's outta the way, we could make the mayor give us _ten_ keys if we wanted, right!? We've got to take care of him once and for all!" 

Tron sighed and simply let Teisel run off at the mouth like this. 

"Thanks to him, our plans have been completely ruined! I'm going to teach him a lesson!" said Teisel. "All right, men! Let's _do_ it!" 

* * * * *

Rock gave an exasperated sigh as he sank another Drache. "How many of those Servbots do they _have_, anyway!?" 

"From the looks of it, a lot," said Roll. "And there's more on the way." 

"Wonderful," muttered Rock, firing his Power Buster. 

He then realized that the Zuuf Geleido he was firing at wasn't firing back. Come to think of it, neither were the others. In fact, they seemed to be clearing the area. 

"This can't be good," he said. 

Then several Zuuf Geleidos surfaced on each side of the boat. 

"AAAAUUUUGGGHHHH!!" Rock frantically fired in all directions, trying to hit them all. The boat rocked several times as the enemy weaponry impacted. 

And suddenly, they were in the clear. 

"It looks like we got rid of all the subs," said Roll. "But I can see something on the sonar ... Heads up, Rock! Something big's coming our way!" 

And then it appeared. 

It was probably twenty feet tall, with eye-like lanterns on the top of a disk-shaped head. Two enormous, clawed arms extended from either side. Its purple metal exterior seemed almost as tough as that of the Marlwolf. 

"Yee hee hee hee!" cackled the voice of Teisel Bonne over a loudspeaker. "Let's get ready to rumble! You're goin' DOWN! You cannot possibly defeat the Barukon Gelede!" Then he fired several missiles at them. 

"We're outgunned!" said Roll. 

"Yeah, no kidding!" said Rock, blasting at the missiles with his Buster. 

"We can't fight them head-to-head like this," said Roll. "We need a different strategy." 

"Okay," said Rock, looking around. "See that river over there? Let's go into that." 

"Hmm," said Roll, as the boat started to turn. "I see where you're going with this. If they don't fit, we can park someplace safe and you can get 'em on foot." 

"What's the matter?" said Teisel, launching another barrage of missiles. "If you don't watch it, you're gonna end up with a big hole in your backside!" He laughed out loud. 

"Here we go," said Roll, as the boat went up the river. 

Large cliffs rose on either side of the water. In a moment, the Barukon Gelede was out of sight. "Well, so much for finding a safe place to park," commented Rock. 

"No, there's a small pond up ahead," said Roll. "Getting back on foot is another matter. Oh ..." 

Rock saw the top of the Barukon Gelede sticking out of the water. "So much for them not fitting!" he said, firing as it launched a torpedo. 

Then they were in the middle of the lake. The Barukon Gelede surfaced fully, and suddenly there was a crunch of rock against metal. It sounded like the rock won, and the Barukon Gelede stopped maneuvering. In fact, it only seemed capable of slowly rotating. 

"Okay, this is perfect!" said Roll. "Sounds like they broke their rudder or something." She began steering the boat in a ponderous circle around the giant robot. 

* * * * *

Onboard, Tron just stared. "What do they think they're doing running around like that!?" she exclaimed. "Why don't they just give up!?" 

She moved some levers, and the Barukon Gelede's left arm swung at them in an attempt to do direct damage, but the boat was just out of their reach. What's more, the blue boy began firing at the joints of the arms, as well as the missile launchers. 

"Babuu!?" exclaimed Bon. 

"Yeah, why _aren't_ they running!?" yelled Teisel. "Do they think they can beat us!?" 

"Um, Teisel ..." said Tron nervously. "It looks like the joints of the arms aren't as good as the rest of the limbs." 

There was a dull crash, and the Barukon Gelede's arm fell into the water. 

"Son of a monkey's uncle!" yelled Teisel, as the status readout for one of the missile launchers turned red (accompanied by an explosion on the outside. "All right, let's get ready to activate the SuperMega Plasma Cannon Deluxe™!" 

"But, Teisel, that's tied directly into the power core!" said Tron, busily firing the other weaponry. "If they destroy _that_, the whole Barukon'll go with it!" 

"Tron, I hate to say it, but we're starting to get desperate," said Teisel. 

The Barukon's other arm fell into the water as the blue boy shot it with that powerful cannon he'd apparently got from somewhere. "Oh noooooo!" said one of the Servbots. "Miss Tron ..." 

"Shut up! Stop your whining!" snapped Tron. "We still have one weapon, don't we??" 

There was another dull explosion from outside. "Um, no we don't." 

Teisel gave a sigh, a hand on his forehead. "All right, I didn't want to have to do this ..." He clenched his fist. "... but I'll teach them not to mess with the Bonnes!" 

* * * * *

"I got all their weapons," said Rock. "Looks like the fight's over." 

"Nice work," said Roll, "but it looks like they've got another weapon coming." 

Rock looked up and saw a large cannon coming out of the top of the Barukon Gelede. On the side was emblazoned the words, **SuperMega Plasma Cannon Deluxe™**. He didn't have time to wonder if it really _was_ trademarked or not, because it promptly turned towards the boat and fired. An enormous ball of plasma hurtled through the air towards him and -- 

--missed by ten feet. Rock sweatdropped; how hard was it, really, to look at the target's position, measure its speed, calculate where it would be by the time the blast reached them, and fire at _that_ rather than at _wherever the target was at the moment they fired??_ Still, he wasn't going to complain. 

"That was dumb," muttered Roll. "Okay, you know what to do." 

"Roger," said Rock, raising the Power Buster. 

* * * * *

There was another explosion, and this time all the equipment on the Barukon cried out in protest. 

"All right, who's the idiot gunner??" yelled Teisel, running over to the weapons control board. "Gimme that!" He knocked Servbot #12 aside and sat down in his place. "Here we go! One roasted Blue Boy, comin' right up!" 

This time, he aimed _ahead_ of the boat, to compensate for the distance the boat was likely to be when the blast reached. Let's see ... fire ten feet ahead of them ... brace yourself as he hit the cannon again ... fire, and ... "Arrrggghhhhh!!!" The boat slowed to half its previous speed and the blast missed by five feet _ahead_ of them. 

"Grraarrrrhhhhh!! Why'd _smart_ people have to pick a fight with us??" moaned Teisel. 

* * * * *

This time, the pirates weren't fooled by the boat just changing its speed. This time, the blast was aimed very carefully. This time, whoever was at the controls of this cannon evidently got his arm jogged, because the blast missed by ten feet _above_ him. 

"Okay, this is getting pathetic. I'm feeling like it's a waste of the Power Buster's fuel," said Rock, lowering it and firing with his normal Buster. 

It took only a few more hits before the cannon blew up. This caused a chain reaction in the Barukon Gelede's power core. A pair of Draches hurriedly landed on top of it, the (nervous-looking) pirates boarded them, and they took off and flew away. Just in time, too: the Barukon Gelede exploded in a fantastic display of pyrotechnics. Rock had to duck to avoid getting hit by the shrapnel. 

"Okay," he said. "_Now_ the fight's over." 

* * * * *

Teisel sat dejectedly as the Draches flew them back to the _Gesellschaft_. After a moment, he said, "I'm sorry, Tron. After you went to all the trouble to make us such a magnificent robot -- well, what can I say? I mean ..." 

"Cheer up, Teisel. Don't worry about it," said Tron. "We'll go back to the ship, and come up with a new plan!" 

Bon also offered a few words of encouragement. "Babu, babu! Babu babu, babuuu~!" 

"Yeah ... That's it! That's the spirit!" Teisel sat up, a smile on his face. "Thanks, you two! You sure know how to cheer a guy up. I couldn't have asked for a better brother and sister than you! We'll get that blue boy next time for sure!" 

Tron smiled back, and then turned away, thinking to herself. _I don't understand ... Even though he got the better of us again, I don't feel the least bit angry ... **What is it with me??**_


End file.
